Amanda Klootsis rememberingNick Corderowith love.
“There hasn’t been a day I haven’t missed him. Nick was a presence. His smile and laugh lit up a room,” she continued. “He loved everyone and was a great friend to anyone that knew him.”
Kloots then shared the story of a friend who had a “beautiful dream” about Cordero on the first anniversary of his death, writing that “we were all at a party and Nick was there looking happy and radiant.”
Nick Cordero and Amanda Kloots.Amanda Kloots/Instagram
“When she asked him why he was there he said, ‘What do you mean? Today is my birthday. It’s the one day I get to come back and celebrate with everyone I love,’ " Cordero said in the friend’s dream, according to Kloots.
After learning this story, the mom of one said she took it as a “clear message” from her late husband to celebrate him on the day he died.
“Hearing this completely changed my mood,” Kloots wrote. “He’s celebrating today? He’s happy? Birth and death have so many similarities. I quickly reframed this day. July 5th is Nicks ‘new birth’ day instead of his death day. This idea brought a positive light to an otherwise dark day. I decided then that I will celebrate with him today and always on July 5th.”
She closed the with a direct message for Cordero, writing, “I love honey. I miss you more than life.”
Kloots previouslyshared this storyin a panel conversation on grief and widowhood withKelly Rizzo— the wife of the late comedianBob Saget, whodiedin January at age 65.
“I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, if Nick is celebrating this day, then Elvis and I need to always celebrate this day as his new birthday and that he is still with us and he will always be with us,'” Kloots toldPEOPLEin May.
“This doesn’t have to be a day where I cry my eyes out. This can be a day where I get a cake and we sing happy new birthday to dad,” she explained. “I think that definitely will become a tradition for us.”
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero.Amanda Kloots/Instagram
To celebrate Cordero’s ‘new birth’ day, the co-host toldE! Newsshe’s taking time for herself on July 5 to reflect and remember.
Kloots specifically plans to spend the week in Italy with family and visiting some of the places she honeymooned with Cordero in 2017.
On Friday morning, Kloots shared a photo of ahelicopter ridewith sister Anna Kloots on her Instagram Story. Later in the day, she shared a video from a boat ride, a photo from an oceanside balcony and a view of a picturesque Italian town.
She captioned the video, “Home sweet home.”
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Cordero was 41 when hedied in 2020from COVID complications.
Looking back on the first anniversary of his death, Kloots told Rizzo said she was going through a “roller coaster of grief” and couldn’t get out of bed.
“You just never know what a day is going to bring. You could wake up and be completely OK. And then you could wake up and it hit you like a ton of bricks,” she said.
Ahead of the anniversary this year, she hoped for an emotional reset.
“My goal is to open my eyes that morning with that feeling,” she told Rizzo.
source: people.com
