Giving boyfriend space? Good or bad?

My boyfriend and I have been dating for a while. We have talked about marriage, children, and a future together. He tells me all the time how much he loves me, how much I mean to him, how he never wants to be with anyone else ever again, how he has never loved anyone like he loves me, and how he can't wait for make me his wife. He has his grandmother's engagement ring already for me. We fight but our arguments are usually over small, silly subjects like one of us taking a joke personal. Just recently we had an argument over something silly and it turned into something much bigger. After this fight he told me that he is upset, angry, hurt, and confused and doesn't know what to do about it. He also says he doesn't know what he wants. He still tells me he loves me and that he misses me. I'm at home for the summer and he is supposed to be here to visit me in a week. I told him I was just going to give him some space to think things through. He has been through a lot this year, he was in one of those awful tornadoes and his grandmother died. His last relationship also ended because his girlfriend cheated on him. Will giving him this space benefit our relationship or is it going to backfire on me? And why is he acting like this all of a sudden?