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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 ESSAY
“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 CHILD
“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. The wave crashes on me again and again. Every time, just get through the next 15 minutes,” Kirk wrote in the Times.
“Grief is strange. Time continues even when every part of you wants it to pause or, better yet, rewind. But the people we love who have passed on would not want us to spend the rest of our lives trying to rewind,” she continued. “At first, I needed to survive the next 15 minutes. Over time, I’ve realized that Charlie would want me to live them.”
Over the past 12 months, Kirk has tried to carry her late husband’s mission forward. She does not believe the answer to his death is to retreat further into separate camps where people only speak to those who already agree with them.
ERIKA KIRK URGES CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS NOT TO BACK DOWN IN FIRST SCHOOL YEAR SINCE CHARLIE’S ASSASSINATION
“He deliberately went into places where there was disagreement and invited people who saw the world differently to talk to him. He said, ‘When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts,’” the TPUSA source said.
Charlie Kirk founded TPUSA to promote conservatism on college campuses nationwide. He was speaking before more than 2,000 people at a TPUSA event in Orem, Utah, when he was assassinated, leaving behind Erika and their two children.
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Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
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