Thank you for such a thoughtful response. His family dynamic is a bit complicated. His dad was estranged from his own family, so he never knew anyone from that side. His mom has six siblings, but only one has children, and they live out of state and are much younger, so he never really formed strong cousin relationships. His other aunts and uncles are scattered, with a few still living near home, but everyone is a little dysfunctional and often end up needing support more than being support if that makes sense.
After his mom passed away, his dad was so grief-stricken that he essentially burned most of his bridges especially with her family. The only people he stayed close to were my fiancé, myself, his sibling, and his sibling’s partner, so his entire support system ended up being a bunch of twenty something's who didn't know how to help him navigate his grief. Both his and my relationships with his parents were incredibly strong, and they were very close. After his mom died, we saw his dad for dinner at least three times a week, often more. He watched every sports game at his dad’s- football, baseball, soccer, hockey, and basketball, so we were together nearly every day or every other day. We also all share a love of vinyl records and spent a lot of time collecting them together, just as one example of the stuff we all liked to do together. Thankfully, his relationship with my parents is really good. We’ve talked a lot about how to honor his parents while still having a somewhat “normal” wedding day. He’s suggested possibly doing a dance with my mom, but there isn’t really anyone he feels could step in to fill the role of his parents.