Erika Kirk, the grieving widow of Charlie Kirk, recounted the painful moment she saw her husband's body in the hospital after his assassination — while also sharing a "secret" she had never revealed to him during his lifetime.
Erika delivered an emotional eulogy in front of a crowd of 200,000 mourners inside and outside Arizona's State Farm Stadium on Sunday, publicly forgiving the man who killed her husband and celebrating Charlie's unwavering Christian faith. She also shared a little "secret" from their marriage, recalling how every single week, without fail, Charlie would ask her how he could be a better husband, a loving ritual that became a hallmark of their relationship.
Her Secret to Happy Married Life
"His eyes were semi-open and he had this knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile. Like he'd died happy. Like Jesus rescued him. The bullet came, he blinked, and he was in heaven," Erika Kirk said in an emotional interview with the New York Times.
Erika shared that the sheriff requested her not to see her husband's body because of the severe damage the bullet had caused to his neck.
"With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband," the brave mother of two recalled telling the sheriff.
She said that she was able to kiss her husband goodbye at the hospital — something she hadn't been able to do earlier that morning when he left for what would be his final event, a speech at Utah Valley University.
Erika also shared the "secret" she had kept from him during his life.
The Final Goodbye
She recalled the heartbreaking moment when she looked "directly at my husband's murdered body" and "saw the wound that ended his life." "But there was something else. Even in death, I could see the man that I love. I saw the one, single gray hair on the side of his head, which I never told him about," she said.
"Now he knows. Sorry, baby, I'm telling you now," she joked.
During her emotional speech, Erika reflected on the expression she saw on Charlie's face.
"I also saw on his lips the faintest smile. And that told me something important," she said.
"It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy. When I saw that, it told me Charlie didn't suffer. Even the doctor told me — it was something so instant."
"One moment, Charlie was doing what he loved, arguing and debating ... he blinked ... and saw his savior in paradise," she added.
"While Charlie died far too early, he was ready to die," Kirk added.
Now serving as the newly appointed chairwoman of Turning Point USA — the organization her husband built — Erika went on to say that she has chosen to forgive the man who killed him.
"He wanted to save young men. Just like the one who took his life," she said through her tears.
"I forgive him because it was what Christ did. And what Charlie would do."
