Roleplay is more fun!
"I'm sorry," she said. "It must have been awful to lose her." Especially after only having a year together as husband and wife. Annabel thought that must have been an awful blow. She wasn't sure she would have bothered living again after it, so he was doing better than she might.
"I've been fortunate to never really lose anyone that close to me," she told him with sympathy, "so I can't even imagine what it's like."