Heartbreak is the worst thing in the entire world, hands down. It terrifies me to think of getting old and knowing that once your partner dies it’s just kind of a waiting game. Some people find other love, but most don’t even bother looking for it, and spend the rest of their years just yearning for their missing half - all while no one wants to listen to how sad they are because of their old age.
Edit: Hoping my inbox isn’t old or with anyone cause RIP.
Having been on Reddit for a while now, this seems to be a cultural phenomenon, with older guys who outlived their wives going to a restaurant with a photo. I would trust no one less than Ron Howard or Ken Burns to turn this into a docu-drama.
Have a little experience with this. It is truly heartbreaking to watch another person with this.
I have a neighbor who lost his life partner after about 30 years of being together. I say "life partner" because they never got married, he figured they would be together until their deaths anyway, so to them, it was irrelevant. We never talked because he would only come outside to smoke occasionally and wave to us.
His wife passed away unexpectedly from a stroke in the bathtub, when she slipped under the water and drowned. I think he stayed inside for 4 months, quitting his job and barely exiting his house even to eat. I finally got to know him, when on New Year's Day, after the 4 months, we invited him over because we thought he needed to start talking to people again - he was down a dark path that might eventually lead to suicide and my GF and I could not let that happen. He talked about dying and killing himself for a long time. I lost my best friend to suicide right after HS and know better than to take these things lightly.
That was about 4 years ago, and to this day, he invites us to go out for her birthday where he lays out her pictures, still says "we're coming over", and buys Christmas gifts with her name on it. Recently, be started trying to sell off the items in her office, which remained compltetly untouched for years. Getting hammered one night with friends, another person asked him how he feels, on a scale from 1 to 10. He said, "0, always 0". I told him "Just because you feel like a 0 doesn't mean that you can't get up in the morning hoping for a 10". He hasn't mentioned suicide in a long time.
We've become good friends over the last few years and he has stopped crying when her name is mentioned, but one thing sticks with me. When I asked him if he thinks we would have eventually become friends had she not passed away, he always responds with a very clear: "I probably wouldn't even know your name, and would gladly give this all up to be with her again". It hurt, but it's completely understandable.
What I'm saying is that, make an effort to reach out to people in their darkest hours. It may be hard, and it may hurt, but people are worth it. You never know, the hand you extend into the darkness just may help someone out of it.
Sorry for the long post, the story just hit close to home for me.
Autocorrec on November 16th, 2017 at 19:01 UTC »
Heartbreak is the worst thing in the entire world, hands down. It terrifies me to think of getting old and knowing that once your partner dies it’s just kind of a waiting game. Some people find other love, but most don’t even bother looking for it, and spend the rest of their years just yearning for their missing half - all while no one wants to listen to how sad they are because of their old age.
Edit: Hoping my inbox isn’t old or with anyone cause RIP.
RudeTurnip on November 16th, 2017 at 19:18 UTC »
Having been on Reddit for a while now, this seems to be a cultural phenomenon, with older guys who outlived their wives going to a restaurant with a photo. I would trust no one less than Ron Howard or Ken Burns to turn this into a docu-drama.
OrangeJuleas on November 16th, 2017 at 20:29 UTC »
Have a little experience with this. It is truly heartbreaking to watch another person with this.
I have a neighbor who lost his life partner after about 30 years of being together. I say "life partner" because they never got married, he figured they would be together until their deaths anyway, so to them, it was irrelevant. We never talked because he would only come outside to smoke occasionally and wave to us.
His wife passed away unexpectedly from a stroke in the bathtub, when she slipped under the water and drowned. I think he stayed inside for 4 months, quitting his job and barely exiting his house even to eat. I finally got to know him, when on New Year's Day, after the 4 months, we invited him over because we thought he needed to start talking to people again - he was down a dark path that might eventually lead to suicide and my GF and I could not let that happen. He talked about dying and killing himself for a long time. I lost my best friend to suicide right after HS and know better than to take these things lightly.
That was about 4 years ago, and to this day, he invites us to go out for her birthday where he lays out her pictures, still says "we're coming over", and buys Christmas gifts with her name on it. Recently, be started trying to sell off the items in her office, which remained compltetly untouched for years. Getting hammered one night with friends, another person asked him how he feels, on a scale from 1 to 10. He said, "0, always 0". I told him "Just because you feel like a 0 doesn't mean that you can't get up in the morning hoping for a 10". He hasn't mentioned suicide in a long time.
We've become good friends over the last few years and he has stopped crying when her name is mentioned, but one thing sticks with me. When I asked him if he thinks we would have eventually become friends had she not passed away, he always responds with a very clear: "I probably wouldn't even know your name, and would gladly give this all up to be with her again". It hurt, but it's completely understandable.
What I'm saying is that, make an effort to reach out to people in their darkest hours. It may be hard, and it may hurt, but people are worth it. You never know, the hand you extend into the darkness just may help someone out of it.
Sorry for the long post, the story just hit close to home for me.