Strength, patience, humility and understanding. Use these and it will make it a little easier, notice I said a little. He will have his ups and downs, will pull away emotionally, just give him space and understand it is a big step and he went through an ordeal and memories will creep up. If you really love him and think he is worth it, then just follow the initial list and work with him till there is success.
You need to be more cautious when you are going to date a widower as he already have lost his spouse once, he is expected to be circumspect before falling into another relationship. But if you are making a sincere effort, he is not a stone-hearted person.
The first thing you should do is to know about likes and dislikes and with some small gestures you should make him know that how much you care for him. Initially he might be reluctant to date you but your consistent effort will certainly bear the fruit.
If the person has kids, then your task becomes easier as you can find another avenue to care for him and after loosing his wife, if he finds that somebody is so caring for his kids, he certainly will think of going on a date with you and in future you both may tie the knot.
Widowers and widows are much the same as everyone else and would appreciate kindness and understanding. If the person is ready to make another relationship then probably the first miserable rush of grief has subsided. As we get older most of us will have some sort of past on the dating scene and he might talk about his late wife as anyone would talk about a former partner. I'm a widow and hopefully wouldn't dwell on the past to new acquaintances as this can be very off-putting. however if we get to know each other we nearly all talk a bit about our former relationships. Hopefully he won't compare you to his late wife and is ready to go and enjoy life again. It depends on his age and the ages of his children if he has any. Some children, even grown up ones can be strange when widowed parents start to go out gain, but caring, sensible children will wish a widowed person well as being lonely is a miserable thing. Most children would want parents to be happy again.
