Do spouses who never remarry love their dead spouses more than those who do remarry?

[Haha456]

I have seen quite a few spouses who remarried 1-2 years after their spouse died while others never ever wanted to remarry

[BCRanger10]

Not necessarily.

My thinking is that in some cases with those who do not get married again, it could simply be that the one they lost is the one to whom their heart belongs and they therefore want to honor them by not remarrying. In others, let's just be realistic, if you're 80 and widowed, you don't have a ton of time left.

As for those who do remarry after the death of their spouse? They can get married again if they want to. If someone enjoys being married and wants to have that companionship again, then they can. They should take whatever time they need to mourn and heal, but it shouldn't be held against them, they should not be thought less of if they choose to love again.

On a personal note, my wife and I know a young widow at our church. Her husband died in an accident at work. After the funeral, we actually had this exact discussion and we both told each other that if one of us dies, we'd want the other to marry again. Marriage has been a good thing for both of us and we'd want the other to experience those joys and graces again.

So again, no, a widow or widower choosing to remain unmarried after the death of her husband or his wife doesn't necessarily mean that they love them more, nor does it mean that those who remarry love less. It's simply a matter of personal prudence and preference.

[tenor55]

We have a good friend whose husband died 25 years ago and she never remarried. We have another good friend whose husband died and she remarried in about 3 years. They both loved their husbands very much. We are close to those in both situations. The woman in the second situation was not looking to marry again, then this wonderful guy came along.

Side note: The first friend’s husband kept his sense of humor to the end (cancer). He asked her, “Do you think you will remarry?” She said, “I don’t think so.” He thought for a minute and said, “It was that bad huh?”

[Labokachulaa]

I don't feel that it's about loving more, but moreso they never stopped loving them. There's some people that you'll never stop loving and there's also some that you know when you've met the absolute best. You don't need to keep searching.

[Clairebear799]

This just depends. It doesn’t mean they didn’t love their spouse they just don’t want to be alone forever

[LiamJHayden]

I do not think that is necessarily true. People who love deeply and who lose a spouse will still retain that capacity for loving deeply, so finding another upon whom to give that love would be natural. At the other extreme might be those who had miserable marriages and are secretly relieved to finally be free and will not remarry because they hated it the first time around.

[In_Trance]

sometimes but not always