Sending you a warm welcome. I is almost 8 years since my husband died so i am much further away from the initial pain than you - i still miss him daily and i still have some of his stuff around - but that terrible acute pain is not the same - i think grief is something we learn to live with rather than "get over" because how could we "get over losing some-one who was so central too our lives. I had to move house soon after and found myself hanging his dressing gown on the back of the bedroom door and kidding myself he was just working away - unfortunately that meant also leaving neighbours and a place i loved so it didnt help with my isolation.
I found returning to work challenging - and made some mistakes fortunately nothing that couldnt be put right - but it also felt quite pointless - why do a not very useful job to survive a life i didnt want but that too passed
Whilst i wanted company when i was on my own - when i had company i found i wanted to be on my own - its a very mixed up time and emotions change from day to day. - You dont need to put her things away until you feel you are ready to do so -so dont pressurize yourself to do it.
Over the time i have found myself more comfortable in my own company -in the early days i tried to join things and it just didnt work out - perhaps because they were the wrong things and i dont really have a place to fit now i have moved - and so for me my social life became this forum,travelling and free online education.
Travelling came about when i decided the best thing i could do if i couldnt live life for me was to live it as though i was living it for him,and be his eyes on the world - so i went back to the places we loved to go,and then to some of the places we discussed going, It all takes planning and along the way you find there are dragons to be slayed - feeling paranoid about being a lone person in a crowd lead me to taking a camera everywhere - because some-how that legitamises your presence.
being frightened of flying is multiplied when you are on your own -and i still get really anxious in the build up -but having everything tighly organised so i know where it all is from the moment i get to the airport helps, as it turns out its the airport rather than the actually flying that creates the biggest anxiety.
Each goal has hurdles to be jumped - and if walking into a pub is a hurdle then firstly ask yourself if thats what your goal is - or is it just because of feeling lonely that you want to do that because i found joining something for company when the thing i was joining wasnt interesting to me in its own right was a hindrance.
Then find ways round whatever it is thats stopping you - would you feel more comfortable for example if the first time you go with your daughter - maybe to have a meal -then find out what is on at the pub - do they have live music, a quiz or live sports on tv - something that could break the ice with other people in there other than the actual drink - so you dont have to introduce yourself as a widower but as a fellow football/quiz/music fan.
The online education was basically me trying to fill time - i picked a few courses i thought might be interesting -i thought they were pretty random - then something just fell into place that connected them - and i am doing graphic design/marketing, and on the ground work, (when i can get there, i have to fit it round work leave) for school garden projects in Africa, Dolphin and whale conservation, and next week - Turtle conservation - along the way i have met very interesting people - they are not my neighbours or even in the same area as me -but even when i am alone i dont feel as alone.
Being here, being able to write down my thoughts and emotions, and finding other people here was the first and most important step to doing all this and it has taken a long time - it is a long journey and a rollercoaster as well and initially you need to start with small steps take a day at a time and try not to look into a future and see it full of lonliness but one of ways that you can keep your wife close to you - not just with her stuff, but by gradually starting to live your life again, you will not be leaving her behind but you will start taking her forward with you in a different way.