Do some of you share this thought about the future?

Iam64 I'm very sorry.

Thank you Norah
Greyduster - your post resonated with me. We cope as we have to. Also because I believe it can strengthen our resilience. By this stage of life, most of us well have faced many challenges we somehow survived and learned from. I’d rather not be having to learn to live without my husband but what’s the alternative. I also know he would want his loved ones to live well x

Iam64 thank you. I feel for your loss and am inspired by what you say: "We cope as we have to. Also because I believe it can strengthen our resilience. By this stage of life, most of us will have faced many challenges we somehow survived and learned from. I’d rather not be having to learn to live without my husband but what’s the alternative. I also know he would want his loved ones to live well x"
I hope I can have both your courage and wisdom if I have to face such a loss. Thank you.

Absolutely, Iam 💐. I miss DH every second of every day. During the first 22 years of our marriage, he was a soldier and as a soldier’s wife I had to put up with many periods of separation, but I always knew he was coming back. Now that he’s not, it doesn’t bear thinking about, but I truly know the last thing he would want was for me to pull up the drawbridge and wallow. Kind thoughts to all posters, bereaved and not, alike.

Thank you for this thread which is so inspirational and despite so much pain in bereavement, what shines through is the love and cherished memories that so many posters have for their partners.

Kind thoughts and hugs to you all.
I hope I will cope, when my time comes if my DH dies before me, and this has prompted me never again to take him for granted.

DH and I have been married for 56 years. He's starting to have health problems so I'm starting to realize I could end up alone. He has been good about handling our finances so I dread possibly having to do that on my own. He can drive me crazy at times, but we are pretty compatible. We enjoy our children and grandchildren, discuss lots of things, and have the same sort of dark sense of humor. It is beginning to hit me how empty and lonely it would be if he goes before me. I'm thankful for this forum so I can learn how others cope.

I lost my DH 3 years ago and still miss him so much. We had our ups and downs over the 51 years we were married but we had each other and our two AC and 3 grandchildren. He had terminal cancer and I watched him deteriorate slowly until he died in a wonderful hospice that gave him back his dignity.
You learn to cope but I miss him every single day.
We often laugh about the things he said and did and I curse him at times for not doing the jobs round the house that I now have to get someone in to do.
My grandchildren are my pillars now, keep me going and we love to be in each other’s company.
It’s not easy on your own, especially in the evenings but you cope because you have to.
I feel for widows who have no family or friends, it must be so hard for them.
I too fear dementia, as my father and cousin died with it. It’s such a destroying illness both for the sufferer and family.