First shock, then the pain of loss...
No one should be expected to adjust to widowhood alone or overnight. Widows and widowers have discovered that their greatest help came through talking with people who had gone through a similar experience. Such sharing can help a recently widowed person work through bereavement to independence and a new chapter in one’s life.
Widowed Persons Outreach can put you in touch with others who have experienced that intense loss and have come to understand it.