Fox News has added audio to its articles, allowing readers to listen to the content. Recently, Erika Kirk shared her reflections on grief a year after the assassination of her husband, Charlie Kirk. In a guest essay for the New York Times, she discussed the shared experience of grief beyond political affiliations.
Erika Kirk took over the leadership of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) after her husband, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. In her essay, titled ‘What I’ve Learned About Grief,’ she addresses how Americans often categorize each other by political labels and the importance of acknowledging shared emotions like grief.
Erika Kirk desires to connect with people on a human level, expressing openly her experiences during the past year.
A source from TPUSA told Fox News Digital: ‘You do not have to share someone’s politics, faith, or worldview to understand what it means to lose someone you love.’ Erika’s reflections resonate with anyone who has experienced loss, recounting the challenges of facing holidays and personal milestones without her husband.
Erika shared advice from second lady Usha Vance, emphasizing the importance of focusing on surviving ‘the next 15 minutes’ to navigate grief over the past year.
‘The first Saturday without a love note from him passed, along with his 32nd birthday and my birthday,’ Erika wrote in the Times. ‘Thanksgiving was tough. Putting the Christmas tree together wrong highlighted how new traditions replace the old. Yet, the wave of grief crashes repeatedly. In those moments, I tell myself to just get through the next 15 minutes.’
Erika Kirk continues, ‘Grief is strange. Time moves forward even when every part of you wants it to pause or rewind. But those we love would not want us stuck in the past. Initially, I needed to survive the next 15 minutes. Gradually, I learned that Charlie would want me to live those moments.’
Throughout the year, Erika has sought to advance her late husband’s mission, rejecting the notion of retreating into ideological echo chambers. Charlie Kirk established TPUSA to advocate for conservatism on college campuses. He encouraged dialogue between differing viewpoints, warning against the dangers of silence.
The one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination at a TPUSA event in Orem, Utah, is approaching. He left behind his wife Erika and their two children.