On Tuesday, Sheryl Sandberg made her first public statement since her husband, Dave Goldberg, died suddenly while exercising on vacation in Mexico four days ago.
Hours after President Barack Obama wrote a stirring tribute on the White House’s official Facebook page, Sandberg responded to the post.
"Thank you President Barack Obama for this beautiful tribute -- and for your friendship to our family," she wrote. "Dave Goldberg admired you for your leadership, passion, and your deep love of sports."
Later that evening, Sandberg also shared a personal eulogy about her late husband in a Facebook post of her own, and thanked family and friends for their support.
"I met Dave nearly 20 years ago when I first moved to LA. He became my best friend," she wrote. "He showed me the internet for the first time, planned fun outings, took me to temple for the Jewish holidays, introduced me to much cooler music than I had ever heard."
She recalled their 11 years together as "the deepest love, happiest marriage, and truest partnership," ultimately rewarding with the birth of their two children. "He gave me the experience of being deeply understood, truly supported and completely and utterly loved – and I will carry that with me always," she wrote.
I want to thank all of our friends and family for the outpouring of love over the past few days. It has been...
Posted by Sheryl Sandberg on Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, also changed the cover photo of her Facebook page to a picture of her and her husband, who served as the chief executive of SurveyMonkey before his death.
Goldberg died Friday of a head injury after he was found on the floor of a gym at near the Mexican coastal town of Puerto Vallarta. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to include Sandberg's latest statement.