Sheryl Sandberg has had strong support from her family while finding love again after herhusband’s tragic death.
The Facebook COO — who gotengaged to boyfriend Tom Bernthal on Saturday, PEOPLE exclusively reported — was devastated following the May 2015 death ofDave Goldberg, her husband of 11 years with whom she had two children.
But it was a reminder from her mother-in-law in the difficult months afterward that opened her eyes to the possibility of opening her heart to someone new.
Goldberg — who was the matchmaker behind Sandberg’s romance with his close friend Bernthal, 46 — says he finds the notion that a woman should avoid moving on following the death of a partner to be antiquated — something Sandberg herself discussed in a 2017 interview withThe Guardian.
Sheryl Sandberg and fiancé Tom Bernthal.Larissa Cleveland
“Men date sooner, men date more, and women get judged more,” she said. “And, you know, obviously that’s super unfair. I think I’m helping people to remember that dating, for those who want to do it, is part of moving forward, and it is option B. If I could I would only date Dave. I made that choice… I just had it taken away from me.”
Courtesy Sheryl Sandberg
In fact, it was a shared sense of grief — Sandberg’s over the loss of her husband, and Bernthal’s over his divorce — that helped bond the pair.
“Divorce is a death of a family. It’s not the same, but it is hard. So both of them have gone through loss, and just because you have gone through loss doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to happiness and joy again,” Goldberg says.
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Sandberg, 50, recalled the sweet moment with her mother-in-law, Paula, inOption B, writing that it came as the two cleaned out Dave’s closet in the months after his death.
Sheryl Sandberg and Tom Bernthal.
She wrote that it was the first time she’d even considered the possibility that finding love again was an option.
Sandberg and Bernthal have beendating since the spring, and were engaged following a mountain hike and picnic lunch at Vermejo Park Ranch on Saturday, a source close to the couple told PEOPLE.
Sharing her joy via Instagram on Monday, Sandberg posted a photo of the duo with the caption, “Engaged!!! @tom_bernthal, you are my everything. I could not love you more.”
Bernthal, the founder and CEO of Kelton Global, proposed with a ring featuring five tiny hidden diamonds underneath the setting to represent each of their five children.
“They just clicked right away and have been completely committed to each other since they met,” an insider familiar with the couple told PEOPLE. “The Sandberg/Goldberg and Bernthal families have become very close and are thrilled that both of them have found happiness. Both Tom and Sheryl share a strong commitment to all the same things, especially family and philanthropy.”
source: people.com
