Last week, comedian Patton Oswalt and actor Meredith Salenger announced that they were engaged.
I put the ring in a marzipan Slave I replica and said, "Will you be my Padawan of Love?" She maced me but said yes… https://t.co/v8gUXNORLz
Salenger posted a slightly more emotional photo to Instagram.
Alice Oswalt, in case you are unaware, is the daughter of Patton and his late wife, Michelle. She’s also the sayer of one of the sweetest things ever said:
"When your mom dies you're the best memory of her. Everything you do is a memory of her." -- Alice Oswalt, 7
NO YOU ARE CRYING I AM FINE.
And of course, the internet, being that it is THE FUCKING INTERNET, had all kinds of trash opinions about it.
Oswalt remained silent, but 27-year-old Erica Roman, a widow who lost her husband within days of Oswalt losing his wife, came to his defense with the fire of 1000 suns.
Oswalt shared Erica's post on Facebook:
"This is so amazing. And SO well-written. I expected some bitter grub worms to weigh in (anonymously, always always always) with their much-needed opinions when I announced my engagement last week. And I decided to ignore them.
But yeah, I felt this rage. And Erica articulated it better than I could have ever hoped. So there you go.
Thank you, Erica."
In her blog post, Roman explained finding love after loss in the most beautiful way.
"The person who comes after cannot and will not replace the one we lost. To imply that is insulting to the widow, it’s insulting to the new love and it’s insulting to the love who was lost. ...I [am] happy to see Patton Oswalt’s heart [has] expanded. I use that word intentionally. I say expanded because thats what widowed hearts do. They expand. One love isn’t moved out to make room for someone new. An addition is built. Just like my love for my daughter was not diminished by the birth of my son, so too, the love widows can have for someone new does not diminish the love of the one lost. The expansion of the heart is part of the grieving process."
Even Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (also a recent widow) commented on the post:
