Sheryl Sandberg: 'The best I can do right now is to get through each day'

(Image credit: Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)

last updated 3 June 2015

In a moving Facebook post Wednesday, Sheryl Sandberg marked 30 days since the death of her husband, Dave Goldberg.

"I think when tragedy occurs, it presents a choice," Sandberg wrote in the post. "You can give in to the void, the emptiness that fills your heart, your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even breathe. Or you can try to find meaning."

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Real empathy is sometimes not insisting that it will be okay but acknowledging that it is not. When people say to me, "You and your children will find happiness again," my heart tells me, Yes, I believe that, but I know I will never feel pure joy again. Those who have said, "You will find a new normal, but it will never be as good" comfort me more because they know and speak the truth. Even a simple "How are you?" — almost always asked with the best of intentions — is better replaced with "How are you today?" When I am asked "How are you?" I stop myself from shouting, My husband died a month ago, how do you think I am? When I hear "How are you today?" I realize the person knows that the best I can do right now is to get through each day. [Facebook]

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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.