Sheryl Sandberg wrote about losing her husband this past May in a touching post on Facebook.
‘After the loss of my husband Dave Goldberg, there were days when gratitude seemed beyond my grasp,’ wrote Sandberg.
She then added, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday; ‘But as the months have gone by, I’ve realized that I still have so much to be grateful for.’
Sandberg, 46, went on to write in her post; ‘This Thanksgiving, I want to thank my family and friends who have supported and comforted me and my children as we have recovered from grief, regained our smiles and the ability to laugh, and rediscovered all that we have to be grateful for.
‘I also appreciate the many strangers who have reached out and shared their stories of tragedy, resilience, and rebirth. And I want to say a special thank you to the team at Kara Grief Counseling in Palo Alto who did so much to help move us forward.
‘On this day of thanks, I hope that everyone out there can find something worthy of gratitude. Loss and recovery are an inevitable part of being human, and I realize more and more that these experiences which take so much from us also give us the ability to be grateful on a deeper level.’
Sandberg’s husband Dave, 47, died after suffering head trauma and blood loss following a fall off a treadmill due to a heart arrhythmia while he and his wife were on vacation at the Four Seasons in Punta Mita, Mexico.
The couple have two children, a son and a daughter.
It will no doubt be a busy year ahead for Sandberg, with many assuming she will take the reigns at Facebook for the two months that founder Mark Zuckerberg is out on paternity leave.
She remembered her husband last month on what would have been his 48th birthday, writing; ‘So many people, even some I did not know, have told me how he helped them start their career or encouraged them to reach higher or do better.
‘So many people say that when they have a decision to make, they ask themselves, “What would Dave have done?” So many people talk about how even in death he inspires them to live better lives.’
In addition to her work at Facebook, Sandberg also serves on the board of The Walt Disney Company and is the author of the successful novel Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.
