EXCLUSIVE — A year after Erika Kirk endured the unimaginable tragedy of her husband Charlie's assassination, she shared what she's learned about the universality of grief in a New York Times guest essay.Kirk, who took over leadership of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) following the fatal shooting of her 31-year-old husband Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept.10, 2025, penned the piece Monday that's headlined, "What I’ve learned about grief."She feels Americans increasingly experience each other through political labels and wanted to write something that reminds everyone that grief is something everyone can share.ERIKA KIRK REFLECTS ON FIRST YEAR OF GRIEF AFTER CHARLIE KIRK'S ASSASSINATION IN NYT ESSAYErika Kirk penned a New York Times guest essay about grief as the one-year anniversary of the assassination of her husband approaches.
(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)"You do not have to share someone’s politics, faith or worldview to understand what it means to lose someone you love.She wanted to meet people on common human ground and speak honestly about what the past year has been like," a TPUSA source told Fox News Digital.Much of what she has been through over the past year is deeply familiar to anyone who has grieved, and she detailed how hard it was to make it through the first holidays and family milestones without her husband.Erika Kirk explained why simply getting "through the next 15 minutes," which was advice from second lady Usha Vance, has been critical in getting through the past year.JD VANCE'S WIFE USHA DETAILS HOW CHARLIE KIRK'S DEATH INFLUENCED DECISION TO HAVE FOURTH CHILDErika Kirk in the Oval Office of the White House on November 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)"The first Saturday without a love note from him passed.His 32nd birthday.
My birthday.Thanksgiving.
When I put the Christmas tree together wrong, it made me realize that being a widow means old traditions will need to make room for new ones.T...