I GET THIS: ‘After His Death, I Didn’t Cook Anymore’: Widows on the Pain of Dining Alone. I do most of the cooking by far in our household, but when I was single I always found cooking for one boring and tedious. I think it would be worse to have to do it because of being widowed. Maybe I’d turn it into an excuse to be more experimental in my cooking. Maybe not.

Most striking is the kindness of the couples and families who invited the widowed to have dinner with them regularly. Reach out to people who are grieving if you can. It makes a big difference.