How to help fiancee grieving

At the end of May, tragically my mother in law passed away from suicide. It changed our world, espceillay my fiancee, and I feel it sometimes myself iin soft moments when I look out my window. She is reminded of the loss everyday and it breaks her all the time. She is devastated as you'd expect. 

I have tried to help her during this awful time I really have, but I'm worried I keep slipping up. I've had my own struggles and tried to keep things going like cooking for her and cleaning the house after work, but she is angry at me constantly. Perhaps a lot of it is deserved it's hard to say: I was figuring out a work trip in July I was going to attend but I misjudged how me being away would affect her. Because of that I was called a selfish p**** and she said I've made this whole grieving process worse. And now doubt has been cast over us getting married. 

I'm really really trying not to make this about me I don't want that, but I can't help but feel affected by this. I'm just looking for strength and wisdom on how to look out for her, and still try not to take to heart what is being said. But this is pretty seismic. We've been having relationship issues before her mom passed and she's always been angry at me calling me a c*** but all I've wanted to do was help her and love her. Like I said we've struggled before her moms passing so there's a lot of context I guess which is hard to write in one post.

Plus her family has really let her down. Her dad just cares about getting inheritance money, her aunt is just being a gossip and wicked. Her brother is equally struggling too, but I wish my fiancee would recognise that. 

What do I do? I really feel like my relationship is doomed now, and I'm really really trying to help my fiancee. But I feel like I'm being selfish for posting this kind of thing. Am I? 

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  • She's angry and lashing out, you're not selfish or anything else, you need support too to keep supporting your partner.

    Sadly you're a safe person for her to let rip at, I doubt very much if its anything you're doing wrong and she's helping to create the situation she's trying to avoid, having people walking on eggshells around her. Maybe she needs a reality check and for you to calmly tell her that you understand she grieving and that life feels horrible and raw for her right now, but it's not your fault that all this has happened.

    Maybe after this conversation, presuming it all goes well, you suggest a rage session every day? 10 mins where she can beat a cushion on the floor kick cardboard boxes, stamp on upturned plastic cups, even get a punch bag is you have space to hang it and encourage her to hit, kick and scream, shout insults whatever she needs, but thats where it stays and it's never personal to you. If you can give her this space and just be there as a witness, to hear her, not get involved in what she's saying or what feelings she's expressing, but just hold a boundary to contain her feelings safely whilst she expresses them.

    I'm guessing you had some kind of relationship with your mother in law and might be grieving too, it's a really hard situation to be in. Her family seem to be letting out all their dysfunctional dynamics too, not helpful, maybe try and stay away from them as much as possible?

  •   thank you for the reply. It's hard to keep strength up sometimes. A 10 minute rage session could be a good thing, and a way to contain those feelings. 

    It just feels different, it feels like she wants to leave me I don't know what to do. 

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