Charlie Kirk’s devastated widow has revealed the sweet tradition that helped their marriage go from strength to strength.
Erika Kirk delivered a heart-wrenching eulogy in front of 200,000 mourners in and around Arizona’s State Farm Stadium on Sunday afternoon, publicly forgiving the man accused of assassinating her husband and celebrating his Christian faith.
During her speech, she revealed Kirk would ask her how he could be a better husband every week without fail, as part of a romantic ritual they’d formed during their marriage.
‘Someone once asked me how Charlie and I thought we kept our marriage so strong when he was busy traveling,’ she said.
‘Our little secret: It was love notes. Every Saturday, Charlie wrote one for me, and he never missed a Saturday.’
Erika said ‘in every single one of them, he’d tell me what his highlight was for the week, how grateful he was for me and our babies.
‘And always at the end, he would always end it with asking the most beautiful question, ‘Please let me know how I can better serve you as a husband”.’
The couple shared two children, a three-year-old daughter and a 16-month-old son.
Erika Kirk delivered a heartwrenching eulogy in front of 200,000 mourners at Arizona ‘s State Farm Stadium on Sunday afternoon
She and President Donald Trump united on stage for the final, moving moment of the memorial
They met at a Bill’s Burgers restaurant in New York City in 2018, when Kirk was interviewing Erika for a job.
In an adorable video of Kirk retelling their meeting to their daughter, he said he was asking interview questions about ‘philosophy, religion, Jesus.’
‘And then I realized Mama was beautiful and smart and elegant and Christ-like,’ he told the toddler.
‘And so, I said, ‘Forget this job interview, I want to date you!’ I said, ‘I have enough friends.’ And that’s where your journey started.”
Bonding over their shared evangelical Christian faith and traditional, conservative values, Kirk and Erika launched their relationship and got engaged two years later.
Kirk was shot dead while debating students at the Utah Valley University college campus.
His alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, may have held extreme left-wing views, authorities have said.
Kirk ‘wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life,’ Erika said at her husband’s memorial on Sunday. ‘I forgive him,’ she said as the crowd erupted in applause.
During her speech, she revealed Kirk would ask her how he could be a better husband every week without fail, as part of a romantic ritual they’d formed during their marriage
The couple shared two children, a three-year-old daughter and a 16-month-old son
‘I forgive him because it’s what Christ did. The answer to hate is not hate.’
Erika also revealed she bravely saw her husband’s body after his death, despite a warning about his graphic wound.
‘I look(ed) directly at my husband’s murdered body,’ she said. ‘I saw the wound that ended his life. I felt everything you would expect to feel. I felt shock. I felt horror and a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed.
‘I also saw on his lips the faintest smile … it told me Charlie didn’t suffer. Even the doctor told me it was something so instant that even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room … nothing could have been done. There was no pain.’
