Widower’s Voice
You are the one with whom I choose to share the second half of my life. I choose you and accept your choice of me for many reasons, not the least of which is your courage. What I am asking of you is no small sacrifice. In fact, loving me will require nothing less than all of you, everything you are and everything you are still becoming. But in return for all of you, I will give you all of me. I will dedicate myself to learning how to love you the way you want and deserve to be loved. I will take the time to discover what brings you joy, to explore what gives you pleasure, and I will show you the true meaning of devotion. You will be my one and only. I will not be interested in another — neither the waitress, nor the neighbor, nor the woman on the internet. I will love you with all that I am because your life is so precious to me, and I know how quickly everything could change. I will give you all my love every day we have together because I know what it is to lose someone.
I also happily choose to share my life with you because of your honesty. You and I both know that we must be completely honest with one another for our newfound love to grow and flourish. I need you to tell me exactly what you think, what you want, and how you feel. We don’t have time for the kinds of games and ambiguity that are the current standard of our culture. It will take courage from both of us to open up like this, but courage and honesty will be the foundation of our new life together.
I need you to understand that our relationship is going to be watched and dissected from the beginning. I am a widower, and no matter how long I wait to care for someone new, there will be people who feel it is too soon. My former love was loved by many. Those friends and relatives will be protective of her memory and can’t help but evaluate you. They will likely find parts of you to be unworthy as they judge you against their fond recollections of her. During these difficult times, try to remember that you are, in a sense, the beneficiary of all the life lessons I have learned through coping with my loss. And never forget it was you who drew me out of the darkness of my grief, and you who sparked a renewed excitement for my life, as long as it is a life with you.
You must also understand that I will always love my late wife, but my love for her does not take away from my capacity to love you. If anything, because I have loved before with all my heart, I know I have the ability to love again. Still, there will be times when I miss her and cry for what I have lost. This won’t mean that you are not enough. Please don’t feel threatened by her memory because I will want to keep it alive, and there will be times I need to be comforted by the love I hold so dearly now as I mourn the love I held so dearly then. Remember, she was my first love, but you will be my last, and because of you my heart is wide and deep enough to be capable of loving fully and completely again. Thank you for bringing me back to life. I am so happy to share that life with you.

From <https://thecoffeelicious.com/widowers-voice-9485a51a1353>