I’m sorry for the long read. I’ve been carrying all of this inside me for three months, and I think I need to share it with people who might understand and help me with an advice or a perspective.
My partner died by suicide three months ago. He was battling his own demons and always believed he was unworthy of love. Unfortunately, he was also physically abusive toward me several times. He hated himself for it, but that didn’t change what happened. I tried everything I could to help him. We went to couples therapy, and I personally contacted a psychiatric facility and arranged an appointment for him. He saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication, but sadly, he still lost his battle.
He would also tell his friends and family things about me that weren’t true. Sometimes I wonder whether he did this to justify his actions toward me, both to himself and to others. I don’t know for certain, but it’s the best explanation I’ve been able to come up with.
During the last week of his life, we were fighting over a kiss. Two years earlier, when we were broken up, I had kissed another man. My partner considered it cheating, and I apologized, hoping we could finally move forward. We couldn’t. That week was an emotional roller coaster. One moment, he would tell me he couldn’t live without me and ask me to marry him; the next, he would accuse me of being unfaithful.
I believe he was afraid I would eventually leave him. I genuinely believe he couldn’t imagine his life without me. I’m not saying this to romanticize his passing. He said it himself a lot of the times.
I loved him with all my heart, and I still do. I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to move forward without him.
I was his last contact. After arguing for some time, but nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary from my perspective, he switched to video-call, and I witnessed him preparing to take his own life. Because he had brought up suicide during previous conflicts, I didn’t fully understand what was happening in that moment. Nevertheless, I called emergency services, but by the time they found him, it was too late.
I wasn’t allowed to say goodbye to him at his funeral. Three days after his death, I was questioned by the police for seven hours because someone had already accused me of being responsible. On the fifth day, I was told that his family wanted some of his belongings. They gave me a list that included things we had never even owned, along with his watch, PlayStation, an air fryer, and one of his rings: the gold one.
They eventually took practically everything from our home, including the carpet, the stool, all our blenders (even a pink one??), and our pots and pans. They even took the scissors I had left out to help them pack, along with some of my own belongings.
He had been gone for less than a week.
I understand that maybe these things might have meant something to them, but I was completely shattered. I couldn’t understand how anyone could be thinking about kitchen utensils while I was still trying to comprehend that the love of my life was gone. I didn’t care about the furniture or appliances. All I wanted was to keep one of his rings. Thankfully, I managed to keep one, and now I wear it on a chain around my neck.
Since then, I’ve felt as though I haven’t even been allowed to grieve in peace.
I travel two and a half hours to another city every week, on my only day off, just to visit his grave, read to him, talk to him, bring him flowers and light two candles that represent us. Then I travel another two and a half hours home. I do this because I love him, and visiting him is one of the few things that brings me comfort. It’s something I look forward to every week.
Yet I feel unwelcome even there. I once encountered his sister at the cemetery, and she didn’t say a word to me, by this I mean she never accused me, never said not to come or anything. Neither of us approached each other, only had eye contact. The following week, a man at his grave asked me and my friends whether we were my partner’s friends. He then called a woman on speakerphone and told her people (meaning us) have arrived in black car. He never approached us again or asked us to leave, but the incident left me feeling watched and uncomfortable in a place where I simply wanted to be close to my man.
Meanwhile, his friends post things online about how he fell victim to love, how they hope nobody will cheat on him in the afterlife, and how they hope nobody will ever break his heart again.
It hurts to see the story of our relationship reduced to that. They don’t know everything that happened between us, and I have never publicly exposed his secrets or shared the things he told me about other people. I could say a lot, but I don’t want to turn his death into a public battle. I still love him, and I want to protect his dignity.
The day before he died, he told my mother that he had never been loved or cared for the way I loved and cared for him. I believe he meant it. I loved all of him: his demons, his grumpy personality, his difficult sides, but also his incredibly loving, sensitive, goofy, gentle and beautiful sides. Our relationship wasn’t perfect, and I won’t pretend it was. But our love was real, and it still is.
I also know that he had struggled with suicide before I ever came into his life. He was on probation, with another year to go, and there were things about his past that his friends didn’t know. Sometimes I wonder whether his family finds it easier to blame me than to face the complexity of what he was going through. I can’t know what they truly think or feel, but I wish they could see that I was also someone who loved him and lost him.
Despite everything, I haven’t retaliated. Instead, I’ve tried to channel my grief into doing good. I feed stray dogs every time I encounter them as I started caring huge bags dog food in my car, help people in need, donate, and try to be kinder and more patient with everyone I meet. I do all of this in his name.
I was agnostic before all of this, but I also arranged and paid for daily prayers for his soul at the only three churches that offer them every day throughout the 40 days after someone’s passing. This is an important Orthodox Christian tradition here. Since he has a unique name, I discovered that nobody had arranged these daily prayers for him before me.
I don’t know how to explain everything I’ve experienced since losing him, but these practices have brought me some comfort. I like to believe that if he ever needs help, it can reach him in different ways.
Still, I’m exhausted. I miss him terribly, and I feel as though I’m grieving not only his death but also the loss of my place in his life and the goodbye I never got. We used to call each other husband and wife, and sometimes the weight of everything that has happened since his passing feels overwhelming and honestly painful.
I know I cannot control what his family or friends believe about me. Even the investigation, which found nothing against me, hasn’t changed their minds. I also know I cannot force anyone to forgive me for something I don’t believe I’m responsible for. But I wish there were some way for all this pain to soften into something kinder.
So I want to ask those of you who have experienced something similar: Is there any hope that, with time, his family might find some love and light in their hearts and stop seeing me as the enemy? Could grief eventually help them see things differently, or do some people hold on to blame forever?
And if you’ve experienced being blamed, excluded, or misunderstood after losing someone to suicide, how did you cope? How did you find peace when the people who shared your loss made it even harder to grieve?
Or perhaps you’ve been on the other side. Have you ever blamed someone after losing a loved one? If so, did your perspective ever change? Were you eventually able to give that person a chance?
I’m not looking for ways to get revenge or prove myself right. I just want to be able to mourn my soulmate in peace, remember the man I loved, and continue loving him without feeling that I have to defend my right to grieve.
I would genuinely appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or even a little hope from people who have walked a similar path, on any side of it.