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Bereavement

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My husband has died

973 replies

peachgreen · 28/10/2020 21:45

He died today. He was 42. He had recently been diagnosed with a heart condition and spent a month in hospital but we believed he was going to be okay. He went upstairs for a rest and they think he had a heart attack. He didn't cry out, they think it would have been fairly instant. I found him when I went to check on him a few hours later and I knew he had gone, I did CPR but I knew it was too late.

He was my soul mate, my other half, the true love of my life. We have a little girl who is almost 3. If it wasn't for her I would kill myself. I can't imagine life ever having any meaning without him.

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Cloud21 · 08/11/2020 21:27

Sorry, cross-posted.

You don’t need to think about the future at the moment and what it will be like with or without someone else. Please focus on you in the right here, right now. You need to like you, love you, sweetheart. Please be gentle on yourself.

MrsPworkingmummy · 08/11/2020 21:28

I think you'll find those cards and other mementos of your love really comforting in the future. Don't throw/put anything away yet - it's too soon. You will, eventually, look back tenderly and fondly without feeling the overwhelming heartbreak you do now. I'm sure your daughter would love to read through those cards too when she's older; they'll help her get a sense of the man he was and will hopefully teach her to never accept less than what you and Mike shared. It's a horrendous and tragic situation. I'm so pleased you have unwavering support from family and friends. I think your daughter will be really feeling a huge loss too. My DS is the same age and I think he'd miss me or his dad terribly if the unthinkable happened. It's great she has her best friend close who will hopefully offer her a distraction.

ihatesandpits · 08/11/2020 21:32

Peach. I feel for toy and your dear daughter so so much. I've shed tears for you, reading your posts. I'm not in Ireland, but if I can send you and your daughter any sort of package I'm so happy to do so. I was thinking a food etc package so you don't have to think about the immediate type stuff. I just want to do something to help you out. I hope I don't come over as patronising. I just think about you all day and would love to help you out from a distance. X

Identitytheftisnotajoke · 08/11/2020 21:45

It's must be so heartbreaking to hear that her say that but she will know what an amazing man her daddy was and how much he loved you both. You need to be around to tell her, because he'd want her to know. And she will know what an amazing mum she has, because even through all this pain, you kept going for her, even when you didn't think you could.

peachgreen · 08/11/2020 22:06

@ihatesandpits you are so kind, thank you, but I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting anything - but the thought is so lovely and I'm very grateful.

@MrsPworkingmummy I haven't thrown anything, I just sorted everything into two memory boxes for Lyla and I to keep nearby. Some of his most precious clothes, his glasses, his personal possessions and all the cards and things. I just want to keep them close and safe. All his other clothes I'm going to vacuum pack and keep in storage.

I really hope you're right and she can still know what true love looks like. I was always so glad that she would grow up with such a good example of what love should be.

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Ginger1982 · 08/11/2020 22:11

It's so hard, but you can do it. My dad died 25 years ago leaving me and my mum. It was incredibly difficult for her but she worked hard and raised me and saw me through school, uni, jobs, marriage and now has her wonderful grandson. I know it seems impossible right now, but there is still so much ahead of you. It is very early days so be kind to yourself ❤️

MrsPworkingmummy · 08/11/2020 22:45

Oh @peachgreen that's a lovely thing to do. I'm sure those memory boxes will be treasured by you both. She will grow up knowing what true love is; you, of course, will be her dad's biggest advocate. You will be enough for her you know. You will make Mike proud and be a strong, loving and inspirational mum. Be kind and gentle to yourself in the mean time xx

peachgreen · 09/11/2020 10:21

I just can't believe I have to go on like this. Everything is so bleak and awful. I can't see how my life will ever contain any joy again. He was everything.

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Lifeispassingby · 09/11/2020 10:35

Oh sweetheart, you won’t always feel like this, that I can promise you. Just keep on going, one hour at a time and the darkness will clear in time. It’s impossible to know why these things have to happen but I know it’s so unfair when it happens to the good ones like you and Mike

Sparklfairy · 09/11/2020 10:37

@peachgreen

I just can't believe I have to go on like this. Everything is so bleak and awful. I can't see how my life will ever contain any joy again. He was everything.
Everything is still so raw peachgreen Sad You're still in shock and in the worst stage of grief. I wish there were words that could take some of your pain away, but there aren't. Just know we are all here and thinking of you Flowers
Cloud21 · 09/11/2020 14:36

Oh Peach.

I can only echo what sparkl says. Grief has no timeline, there’s no pressure to start to feel ‘lighter’. How are the living arrangements going?

Wipingsides · 09/11/2020 14:48

I just came across your thread.. I am so sorry. Your loss is deep, your grief raw. I volunteer for a charity called The Good Grief Trust. Look it up. They can help, if and when you are ready for some support. Lots of love xxx

Scoobygang7 · 09/11/2020 16:14

I am so sorry for your loss. I have been following but felt I couldn't offer anything useful other than seemingly empty platitudes. I came across this post on reddit and it immediately made me think of you. I hope it doesn't offend and is meant with love.

---

Alright, here goes. I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not. I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents.

I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see.

As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.

In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out.

Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too. If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks.

SweetShopSurprise · 09/11/2020 16:30

Oh Peach, I’m crying for you again today reading your posts. I like many other posters think about you every day, throughout the day.

The above post also made me cry, it’s so well written and describes grief perfectly. Please hang on as in time those waves will get shorter and the time between them shorter.

And don’t worry about the future, any part of it. Just live right in the moment. Live for each hour of the day each day, and then gradually extend that to a day at a time and then 2 days at a time and then a week, a month.

Yorkshirelass04 · 09/11/2020 17:28

I have nothing to offer but my condolences, I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope over time the pain lessens. Xxx

JanBabiesBrummyMummy · 09/11/2020 19:24

Just checking in to say I've been thinking of you all today Peach. A memory box for you both sounds like a great idea, and something I'm sure Lyla will treasure.
Sending love x

princessacademic · 09/11/2020 19:43

I'm thinking about you all the time. There is so much good advice on this thread.

MrsPworkingmummy · 09/11/2020 20:38

Just checking in @peachgreen. How are you today? Hope you've slept and have people around to help take over with your daughter when needed @scoobygang7 what a beautifully written description of grief. Peach, I think the scale and rawness of your heartbreak really does speak volumes about how much you loved him. X

Cloud21 · 09/11/2020 21:33

Popping in to say you, Mike and Lyla have again been in my thoughts today.....xxx

peachgreen · 09/11/2020 23:18

Thank you all so much. Coming here to find messages of comfort and kindness really does help. I mean that. In many ways it's the only thing that does.

Today was the hardest day yet. I was actively suicidal and had to go to the hospital. I've now been seen by the crisis team who will see me each day. The evenings are always easier for me, for some reason. I don't feel so desperate now. But I'm still finding it so hard to imagine going on without him. For years and years and years. Every sweet thing Lyla does is like a knife because he's not here to share it. I am a person of faith, if a bit doubting, but today he felt truly and completely gone. Just gone from the world leaving me empty and lost. I mourn so much for the life we could have had, the love he would have gone on to give me and Lyla. The only thing keeping me going right now is the dream, as insane and inappropriate as it may seem, that one day I might find someone who will give us that kind of love - different, but as good. I don't know if I can really believe that could happen, or that I can make it long enough to get there. But without that hope I'm utterly lost.

I miss him so much. I miss our little in jokes. I miss his voice. I miss the way he looked at me every night before he turned the lights out. I hate myself for any moment I ever spent not fully and completely engaged with him.

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IncludeWomenInTheSequel · 09/11/2020 23:22

Oh love.

Hope is the thing. It's natural that you feel so bleak, and I'm desperately sorry you feel so lost.

A tiny speck of hope for the future is like a breadcrumb. At some point they'll string together into a path for you.

princessacademic · 09/11/2020 23:54

So many people find true love again - and most of those people don't imagine it will ever happen. Please believe it.

dottiedaisee · 09/11/2020 23:59

Bless your heart ..just wrap your arms around your baby girl and eventually you will both be amazing warriors together 💕💕

Caroncanta · 10/11/2020 00:05

I decided when my DH died that I would never meet anyone else. I didn't want to. The idea of being with someone else was appalling. That I would just be there for the kids and that was that. But, I did meet someone else eventually, totally unexpected, and totally amazing. And I am happy. I didn't think I would be again. But I am. Hang in there Peach. You need to find peace in yourself, and you don't need to be with someone else. But whatever you do, you will find peace and you will be happy again one day. ♥️

Lifeispassingby · 10/11/2020 02:12

My darling you are still processing what has happened and your body is adjusting to your loss. It is so hard to imagine life carrying on when some dies who was your life and your everything. But it does carry on and in time the darkness starts to clear and you will find happiness again. Just know that you will not always feel like this and the darkness will clear for you too xx

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