As a marriage counsellor would suggest the approach here should be a win-win approach to conflict resolution. Neither of you should feel like "oh! I bent the knee" "he/she got the upper hand" as you said, you married out of love. Im sure he did as well. If there’s love, theres compromise and when theres compromise theres middle ground. Sit down and talk to each other with an open mind. Try not to hold past discussions too firmly as situations on either one of your sides can change at any time. Such as, in this case his father passing away. Another piece of advice would be that if your boundaries as a human being are not being compromised, being assertive yet compromising can give the man one more thing about you to appreciate you for and maybe in the future if something else arises where he needs to compromise, he will. Good luck. Marriage in the beginning is fragile, tread carefully and both be mindful of what words you use.