This hits home, so hard. My mom experienced the same thing when my dad died. She was with one man since she was 16 and at 65 years old, he died. How does anyone find happiness again when you've lost the person that walked all of life with you? Well, about 6 months later, my mom did. In fact, she fell in love - madly so. My dad was an amazing man and she loved him deeply, but at 66, she met another man that, I see now, was the love of her life. He had also lost his wife, also had been high school sweethearts. Both her marriage to my dad and his marriage to his wife were hard. They both nursed their SO until death and when they met, it was like seeing teenagers discovering love for the first time. I had never witnessed anything so profoundly beautiful - my mom changed, for the better - she found true happiness with an man that worshiped her. He wanted to marry my mom - and she wanted to marry him - but everyone around her, except me, thought she was off her rocker. That she was moving too fast, she needed to consider "what everyone would think" - or so people said. A year and a half after they met, one week after a 2 week trip hiking in Colorado & Utah (lots of amazing food, lots of great sex, did I mention they were 66 years old?) he dropped dead (burst aorta). I thought she was depressed the first time around with my dad- it was nothing compared to this loss. He had helped her through my dad's death, they had waited a lifetime to find each other and it was all ripped away in a heartbeat, literally. And what hurt her the most was how concerned she had been about what everyone else thought. She should have married him. She wanted to. I witnessed it all - she was brutally honest with me, suicidal often. This light in my life that had gotten so bright faded so quickly again with the second death. And now we talk about them both, my dad and man #2 with the same love and reverence as if he had been my step-dad. He should have been. His son should have been my step brother. So much love and family we missed out on because she was scared "what people would think". Really we missed out because his time was up, but if she hadnt been so afraid...

No one lives your life but you - screw "what will everyone think" and live for yourself.

I hope your dad finds happiness again.