"The Christmas of 2018 was blissfully normal with my husband, Ray, and our two kids, then 7 and 9. On Christmas Eve, the kids had new pajamas, a family tradition, and as usual, I took plentiful pictures and videos of them enjoying the night. But unlike previous years, I told Ray to get in so I could capture him with the kids, and he did, singing and smiling. That night, Ray and I stayed up late having a bit of wine and wrapping Christmas presents together."
"In the morning, we told the kids they could wake us when the sun came up, which they did; all of us then moved downstairs to open our gifts. Later in the day, we hosted our annual Christmas dinner at our house. Both of our families were there. We were in such a good place. Our relationship was strong, Ray had just taken a new job at the Pentagon, and we were in our dream house with our kids. I wasn't expecting this to be our last holiday together."
"Nearly two months later was Valentine's Day, a day I had always considered a consumer marketing holiday, but we celebrated it with a takeout dinner and a movie on our projector. That night, Ray said we should renew our vows for our 12-year anniversary, which seemed a bit odd as it wasn't a particularly special number of years. We started planning how we'd take a cruise to celebrate, inviting our closest friends to come along."
Natalie McCarter is a 43-year-old mother of two whose husband, Ray, died in February 2019. The family experienced a blissful Christmas in 2018 with children aged 7 and 9, and Natalie captured many photos and videos, including Ray singing with the kids. They stayed up late wrapping presents and spent the next morning opening gifts together before hosting a large family dinner. Ray had started a new job at the Pentagon and the family lived in their dream house. Nearly two months later they celebrated Valentine's Day, discussed renewing vows and planned a cruise with friends.
Read at Business Insider
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