Widow Explains How She Survives Each Day Without Her Husband

The death of a loved one is one of the most difficult things humans experience. Whether it be a friend or family member, death never is easy, and each of us have our own way of coping with such tragic events in our lives.

One woman, Carol, was forced to deal with the tragic, and sudden, death of her husband on her 50th birthday one year ago. Her husband was killed by a young drunk driver, and people ask her how she is able to cope with the loss of her soulmate. While many people are likely unable to fully heal from such a loss, Carol described to a friend how a tradition she and her husband had has helped her cope with his death.

“Her Husband Died In A Tragic Car Accident. One Year Later, She Said This!”

Carol’s husband was killed in an accident last year. Jim, only fifty-two years old, was driving home from work, the other driver was a teenager with a very high blood alcohol level. Jim died instantly. The teenager was in the emergency room for less than two hours.

There were other ironic twists: It was Carol’s fiftieth birthday, and Jim had two plane tickets to Hawaii in his pocket. He was going to surprise her. Instead, he was killed by a drunk driver. “How have you survived this?” I finally asked Carol, a year later.

Her eyes welled up with tears. I thought I had said the wrong thing, but she gently took my hand and said, “It’s all right; I want to tell you. The day I married Jim, I promised I would never let him leave the house in the morning without telling him I loved him. He made the same promise. It got to be a joke between us, and as babies came along, it got to be a hard promise to keep. I remember running down the driveway, saying ‘I love you’ through clenched teeth when I was mad, or driving to the office to put a note in his car. It was a funny challenge.

“We made a lot of memories trying to say”I love you” before noon every day of our married life.

“The morning Jim died, he left a birthday card in the kitchen and slipped out to the car. I heard the engine starting. Oh, no, you don’t, buster, I thought. I raced out and banged on the car window until he rolled it down.

“Here on my fiftieth birthday, Mr. James E. Garret, I Carol Garret, want to go on record as saying I love you!”

“That’s how I’ve survived. Knowing that the last words I said to Jim were ‘I love you!’

H/T: Hrtwarming

What are your thoughts on Carol’s unique way of coping with her husband’s death? Do you think everyone has a special way of dealing with tragedy such as this? Share your thoughts below! 

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