My best friend was widowed 20 years before me. She swooped in and slept with me that first horrible night alone. Talked when I wanted to, and sat in silence as well.
She then gathered a small army and cleaned my house for the upcoming memorial, however I believe with the cleaning she fulfilled a little OCD fantasy of hers ;D. My clean is her filthy ha ha.
Anyway, the point of this post. Before she went home after the memorial she sat me down and told me she was going to call me every night. I had to do one thing everyday, and taking a shower and feeding the cats didn't count they were mandatory. If I ignored said phone call she would come over.
It didn't matter how big or small the task was. It could be as small as watering the plants, or as huge as one of those horrible phone calls, to the bank, insurance etc.
I truly believe that it helped.