Back in August, Bethenny Frankel’s boyfriend, Dennis Shields, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 51.
Sources close to Frankel say the former reality star and business mogul is “absolutely devastated” by Shields’ passing and often feels as though she may never recover.
Despite her grief, Frankel has opened up about Shields death and shared several touching tributes to her late partner:
“It’s hard to breathe,” Bethenny tweeted shortly after Shields’ passing, “and I appreciate you giving me the space & support to try to do so.”
In the weeks since Frankel broke her silence, she’s been refreshingly candid in sharing details of her mourning process.
This week, she revealed to fans that she’s having such a hard time adjusting to life without Shields that she still finds herself attempting to contact him by phone.
“I just accidentally sent Dennis a text,” she tweeted on Saturday.
“It was about him to my bff. That was odd.”
Frankel’s tweet prompted an outpouring of compassion, with many assuring the Real Housewives of New York alum that Shields is still watching over her.
“No he heard you,” wrote one fan.
The supportive environment prompted Frankel to detail a second eerie incident:
“Something else very weird happened,” Bethenny tweeted.
“I was texting w one of his friends and it said ‘handwritten text’ and read ‘hurry the f—k up’ but neither of us wrote that nor do we even know how to hand write on a text. How bizarre?”
Again, fans were quick to offer their belief that Frankel maintains a strong connection to Shields despite the loss of his physical presence.
“He’s still listening, babe,” one fan suggested.
“Oddities happen for a reason, sometimes.”
A source close to Frankel tells Us Weekly that even though her relationship with Shields was relatively brief, Frankel feels forever connected to her late boyfriend:
“She lost her best friend, her partner, her business partner,” says the insider.
“He’s family. His family is her family.”
The source went on to say that Frankel is continuing to dedicate herself to her business ventures, as she sees value in staying busy during such a difficult time:
“She is living her life because there is nothing else to do,” the source says.
“You have to go on. Everyone experiences loss and the only thing you can do is pick yourself up and go on.”
We wish her all the best as she continues to cope with this painful loss.