Facebook's second-in-command Sheryl Sandberg has shared an open letter thanking her fiance Tom Bernthal for helping her find love again after the death of her husband. Sheryl Sandberg's husband, Dave Goldberg, died suddenly in 2015. He was 48.
"When I lost Dave in 2015, my whole world turned upside down," Ms Sandberg, 51, wrote in an Instagram post in which she revealed she had penned an open letter to her fiance in Good Housekeeping. "I really wasn't sure I could ever devote my heart to another person like that," she confessed.
"Everything changed" for the Facebook operations chief when her late husband's brother, Rob, introduced her to his friend Tom Bernthal.
"Today, I'm sharing an open love letter to my fiance in @goodhousekeeping," wrote Sheryl Sandberg. "With Tom, I learned that Option B can be filled with profound joy. Together with our blended family, we have found a new path forward, one filled with so much gratitude and optimism."
Ms Sandberg had announced her engagement to the co-founder and chief executive officer of marketing company Kelton Global last year. "Engaged!!! Tom Bernthal, you are my everything. I could not love you more," she wrote in February 2020 while announcing her engagement.
In her open letter, Ms Sandberg touched upon the many good qualities of her fiance - including his "remarkable generosity and warmth as a partner and parent" - and thanked him for being involved in the lives of their children.
"The truth is, I was just so tired before you, Tom... But together, we have found a new path forward," she wrote in the open letter which was published Thursday in Good Housekeeping.
She concluded her letter by thanking Tom Bernthal for helping her find love again after a great loss, confessing that she would likely always have grief in her heart for her first husband. "But you know that, and you understand and respect it, which makes me love you even more," wrote Sheryl Sandberg.
"Thanks to you, I have come to discover that Option B can also be filled with profound happiness."
