Sandra LOVE, LOSS & Starting Over

The August death of her longtime partner, Bryan Randall, devastated Sandra Bullock but now she's slowly picking up the pieces

She was a sight for sore eyes. Three months after her partner of eight years, Bryan Randall, died following a secret battle with ALS, Sandra Bullock was photographed in public — and she was grinning. Dressed in black leggings, sneakers and a bulky coat, the Oscar winner made her way down an LA sidewalk carrying two shopping bags on Nov. 3. Amid her grief, says an insider, “Sandra has recently been able to begin smiling again.”

It’s taken work. “Facing Bryan’s death is still very difficult,” says the insider. “She’s doing what he always told her to do, though — breathing and taking life one day at a time.” Sandra didn’t expect to fall for the handsome former model-turned-photographer after she hired him to document her son Louis’ fifth birthday party in 2005. “After all the heartache she’s experienced,” including her brutal 2010 divorce from cheating husband Jesse James, 54, “Bryan was someone she never thought she’d find,” explains the insider. “They were perfect for each other. Now Sandra feels like she’s starting over again at 59.”

FOCUSED ON FAMILY