Widowers are never not suffering, even if they appear to be smiling. Widowers have lost their better half. They, like an amputee, will never be whole again.
Recipes are connections to one's culinary heritage. They link generations with common flavors. They are a treasure that are sometimes overlooked if taken for granted.
For a widower, it's not a ending one originally wanted, but an ending that will have to be toleratable so that the child can return to a future with a mother who has improved herself and can be a better parent.
Is he?
He is likely thinking himself pathetic for not being a good father until his wife returned. Also perhaps pathetic for not being able to overcome his loss.
That said, love is like that. There is a reason why elderly who lose their spouse often die not long after their spouse does (I think...
Easier said than done
Turning to one's faith is helpful. That said doesn't remove the spouse sized hole in one's existence. A good marriage, two people become inseparable, and if one leaves it's taking half the person away.
I would describe being a widower like being an amputee. Yes, one can...