Disclaimer: this is a long post!!
Our wedding is three weeks from Saturday and FI and I could not be happier about becoming husband and wife. We have been so enthusiastically planning this wedding and throwing ourselves into this entire process....like, we've actually enjoyed hashing out all the little details. Until recently, that is.
The back story is that my FI lost his parents about three years ago. They passed away just four months apart. His father was diagnosed with cancer and died 6 months later. His mother, who had been in poor health but by no means was critical, passed away in her sleep. My FI, who had moved home when his father was sick, was the one who found her. His sister is his only surviving relative and she literally cleaned out the house after the parents passed away. She boxed up anything she thought might have been of value and shipped them to her house on the other side of the country. She has had limited contact with FI since then (her choice) and she and her husband declined their invitation to our wedding.
So now, FI will not have a single family member at our wedding. He's known this for a while but as the wedding day gets closer and closer, he's getting sadder and sadder. On the outside he's a happy, outgoing guy but he broke down the other night and told me how hard this wedding process has become. I have a large, very loving family and while he appreciates that, right now it makes him miss his family even more.
I know our wedding day will be full of happiness but it breaks my heart knowing how painful some of these days have been for him. I'm not sure what additional support I can offer him beyond just being there and listening when he needs me to. Has anyone else dealt with grief leading up to the wedding?