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Bereavement

Sometimes it’s just the small things that press the bruise isn’t it? 😢

(20 Posts)
FriedGreenTomatoes2 Sat 09-May-26 17:25:24

I’m widowed these last eleven weeks (who’s counting? Me, always will I think) my darling husband of 52 years died from cancer in February this year. Things are raw. Some days I cope better than I thought I would. Then some days I cry, a lot. I grab a cushion and just bawl my eyes out. I feel so hollow inside as if I might just float away.

And yet sometimes it’s the small things that pinch.

No one to bring you a TiB with a cheery good morning, no one to fix a G&T at sundown, or to share chores. Everything now has to be done by me - from washing up, nipping into Sainsbury’s, doing the accounts.

I cried yesterday because the last of my make up remover pads had run out and he bought them whilst out shopping. It just completely undid me. Anyone would think me nuts, crying like that over something so daft. But I did. For the first time in my life I know what ‘keening’ is. Such a forceful tsunami of emotion.

GrannyGravy13 Sat 09-May-26 17:31:37

Sending you a very big (((hug))) 😘

petra Sat 09-May-26 17:32:32

I’m so sorry 😥 There arnt words enough to express how I feel for your pain.

crazyH Sat 09-May-26 17:40:19

So sorry 🥲

nanaK54 Sat 09-May-26 17:45:22

I'm so sorry, sending kindest thoughts to you flowers

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Sat 09-May-26 17:50:14

Thank you so much your kindness is touching. x

Any other widows out there who feel similar ‘pinches’? We can share. I never knew how devastating this would be. Not really.
The loss of a life partner is different to any other bereavement I have endured.

I have also lost my confidence a bit.

karmalady Sat 09-May-26 17:50:47

FGT I am sending you a hug

For me it was similar, it hit me the very next day when I woke early and the dishes were not put away.

Realisation kicked in, no-one but me to make myself a cup of tea, to take me out hand in hand and no goodbye. It happened so suddenly, we kissed, he went out for a cycle ride and his heart failed going up a hill. A policeman came to tell me and took me to the hospital, he was taken there by air ambulance, we were too late. I was in shock then reality hit me good and hard

I know how you feel FGT I really do

B9exchange Sat 09-May-26 17:52:37

If knowing how much we care about what you are going through is of any use at all, then be reassured that we do. There is nothing that can relieve your pain, but there are those on here who are going through the same anguish. 💐

CazB Sat 09-May-26 17:52:46

So very sorry for your loss. xx

TerriBull Sat 09-May-26 17:56:28

I'm so sorry FGT you evoke that devastating loss in all its rawness. I hope writing about it proves carthatic in some sort of way.flowers

Chocolatelovinggran Sat 09-May-26 18:09:28

It's very early days, FGT. You are probably still waking up expecting to see your DH beside you. Hopefully, time will help, but mourning is the price we pay for love, it is said, so I hope that you can be glad of the love that you shared.
Best wishes.

Allira Sat 09-May-26 18:16:44

Sending you a hug as well.

Your post brought tears to my eyes, FGT.
It must be so hard, missing all those little things we take for granted.

💐

ViceVersa Sat 09-May-26 18:25:01

I'm not a widow myself, but I just wanted to say to be kind to yourself - it is still early days, and grief is not a linear thing. Sometimes it just creeps up and smacks you right in the face when you least expect it. And yes, it's often those little things which hurt the most - the things which we do tend to take for granted. flowers

Curlywhirly Sat 09-May-26 18:40:37

FGT2 thankssuch a sad post. Take care.

SueDonim Sat 09-May-26 18:43:49

I hear you, FGT. flowers. I wrote a birthday card for someone today. My name on its own looked so lonely on the page.

I also looked for a birthday card for my dd, later this month. I saw one with ‘To Our Daughter’ on the front and it almost undid me. 😰

MawsRosie Sat 09-May-26 18:45:54

I think it’s the little things too.
Realising that Paw had actually quietly stashed away some pension provision for me without telling me - because of over 10 years of ill health and hospital admissions he had not been able to continue with his career I was used to lurching from overdraft to overdraft and when he died I did not even know how I was going to afford his funeral.
That made me cry.
Seeing his handwriting on a random note -😢😢😢- but worst of all was a tiny DVD clip of us arriving at my aunt and uncle’s Ruby wedding do- somebody must have asked Paw how he was and hearing his standard reply “ Not too bad thank you” dissolved me.
But these would not hurt if they had not triggered happy memories.
“Do not weep because he is no more, but be glad because he was.”

MawsRosie Sat 09-May-26 18:47:48

PS warning to FGT and SueDonim - writing birthday cards and later in the year, Christmas cards on your own - be prepared.

Jaxjacky Sat 09-May-26 18:49:50

I have no idea how you feel, all I can do is send you love and hugs, all of you who’ve suffered such a massive loss xx

Bellasnana Sat 09-May-26 19:07:26

Yes, missing the little things is so hard and you can feel so alone when it hits you.😞

It’s coming up to DH’s 11th anniversary (how can it be so long in some ways but only a moment ago in others?).

I’ve found the last few weeks difficult as my mind goes back to his final few weeks and how sad he was when he realised his time was running out. “I thought I had five years” he said to me. Breaks my heart all over again when I remember.💔

You’re doing so well, FGT but it’s inevitable that the tears will still fall and it’s good to share your sadness and not bottle it up.

As Shakespeare so aptly put it ‘Give sorrow words, the grief that dare not speak knits up the o’erwrought heart and bids it break’💐

Bellasnana Sat 09-May-26 19:09:05

PS. I never wrote another Christmas card after DH died. Just couldn’t bring myself to sign it without his name.😭