Erika Kirk Shares New Details About Charlie Kirk’s Death Nearly 1 Year After Assassination

Nearly a year after her husband, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated, Erika Kirk is sharing new details about what the months since have actually looked like for her and their family.

Charlie, 31, was fatally shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. Erika, 37, later took over leadership of the conservative organization he founded.

In a New York Times guest essay titled “What I’ve Learned About Grief” published on Monday, September 7, Erika described the first 24 hours after her husband’s death as feeling “like a fever dream.”

She recalled her deeply moving conversation with Second Lady Usha Vance.

“I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” Erika said of her conversation with Vance, to which the second lady replied, “You know when you’re on an airplane with your kids, and you’re going to land in 15 minutes, but the kids are going crazy, screaming, throwing things, and then the plane lands, and the kids relax, and everything is fine again?”

“That’s how it will be. Just get through the next 15 minutes,” Vance told Erika, according to her Times piece. Erika said it became “seared into” her heart.

Erika said ordinary reminders of Charlie, including his toothbrush, towel and side of their bed, became especially difficult.

“For months, I avoided my bedroom. I told myself it was OK to confront the pain gradually and to sit with each memory as it came to me,” she wrote.

Birthdays, Thanksgiving and other family milestones brought fresh waves of grief. Over time, however, Erika said the words that helped her survive the earliest days began to take on a different meaning.

“At first, I needed to survive the next 15 minutes. Over time, I’ve realized that Charlie would want me to live them,” she wrote.

Erika also reflected on Charlie’s place within their family. “To the world, he was Charlie Kirk. But to me, he was the love of my life. To our children, he was the center of their world.”

Nearly a year later, Erika said grief and happiness can exist together. “I am learning that grieving Charlie and living life at the same time are part of the rhythm of grief. I can miss him with every part of me and still laugh with our children. I can have a broken heart and still experience joy,” she wrote.