We had 2 weeks to plan our son Chris’ Memorial Service in September 2017.

My son Nick, along with my wife Rose Mary and our daughter-in-law Marie (now Chris’ widow), spent hours working on the tribute video. Photos, videos and music had to be chosen. One of the songs Marie selected was “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran. I’m so glad she picked this as it’s a great song and is so appropriate for a few reasons:

1. When any of us loses a loved one, or try to relive years gone by, we only have our memories, photographs and videos to help us remember.
2. Marie is a photographer. Thankfully, she has been able to bless us with so many awesome photographs of our son. (You can view her photographs and Chris’ Tribute video on her website link below).

Marie turned 30 this May (2021). She is “moving forward”, but not moving on, with her life and thankfully, we remain close. In fact, as I write part of this reflection on June 4th, Marie and her new love Gavin will be joining us for dinner this evening.

From early on, Marie has included her Ekren family in her relationship with Gavin and to his credit, Gavin has been extremely respectful in honouring our son Chris. Gavin is a quality young man and our admiration for him grows as we spend more time together and witness his willingness to engage in deep conversations.

Last September, Marie wrote about her life since the passing of her husband Chris. A short time later she was interviewed by Erin Clark, the wife of Pastor Mark Clark of Village Church, who spoke at Chris’ memorial. I am thankful for Marie’s vulnerability and transparency as I know her story can help others.

You can view her blog about Chris on her website link below by scrolling down past a few photos to “3 Years Later”. You can also listen to Marie’s interview on the Apple Podcast link below:

#14: Loss & Hope with Marie Skerl The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful with Erin Clark

“3 years seems like a long time, but it also doesn’t. I feel like a lot has happened since, but sometimes it feels like just yesterday that I opened my door for the Delta Police.

They sat me down at the kitchen table and told me my husband, Chris Ekren, had passed away. The hardest thing for me to talk about to this day is that moment I found out.

It was the moment my life flipped completely upside down. My worst nightmare had come true. This could not be real life, this is a movie. I remember saying that multiple times – ’This doesn’t feel like real life.’” www.marieskerlphoto.com

Click to Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Finally, I’ve included some of the words from Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph” below. I play this song often on the piano and in the same room I have a wedding photo of Chris & Marie. I also have another photo of Marie and Gavin. I believe my son is okay with this new photograph in our life.

“Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes
But it’s the only thing that I know
When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing makes us feel alive