Erika Kirk: 'God Is Good' — A Year After Charlie's Assassination, Faith and Grief Intersect

In a deeply personal guest essay for The New York Times, Erika Kirk reflects on the first year without her husband, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025. As the one-year anniversary approaches, she writes of watching "extraordinary good" emerge from unimaginable evil — people returning to faith, reconciling with estranged family members, and forgiving old wounds. "Still, I can stand and say without a shadow of a doubt that God is good," she writes. "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."

NEW YORK – One year after her husband was gunned down on a Utah college campus, Erika Kirk has broken her silence in a moving guest essay for The New York Times, reflecting on grief, faith, and the extraordinary response she has witnessed in the aftermath of the assassination .

On Sept. 10, 2025, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while addressing a crowd of roughly 3,000 at Utah Valley University in Orem . He was 31 years old .

Erika Kirk writes that in the months since, she has seen "extraordinary good" emerge from the evil of that day . "I have heard stories of people returning to faith, reconciling with family, forgiving old wounds," she writes . "I have seen a movement of young people rise up, recommitting to the values Charlie gave his life to champion" .

A Private Grief, A Public Legacy

She describes the tension between her private grief and the public nature of her husband's legacy. "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," she writes . "The hardest part of this year has not been the public memorials — as beautiful as they are — but the quiet moments. The empty chair at the dinner table. The voice that should be on the other end of the phone" .

'God Is Good'

In the essay, Erika Kirk acknowledges the pain of the past year but reaffirms her faith. "The past year has tested me in ways I didn't think I could survive. But I have learned that strength does not mean the absence of pain. It means believing that God is still good, even when the world feels dark," she writes .

"The questions come in the middle of the night. Why Charlie? Why us? Why now? I don't have the answers. But I know that grief and gratitude can coexist. I know that love does not end with death" .

A Community's Response

Erika Kirk also writes about the outpouring of support from the community she and Charlie built together. "The tributes have been overwhelming. I have read letters from people I will never meet, each one a story of how Charlie changed their life," she writes . "His legacy lives not in monuments, but in the hearts of the thousands of young people he inspired" .

"In this, I have found a strange, fragile peace" .

What's Next

The one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's death falls on Thursday, Sept. 10 . Several events have been planned to honor his legacy, including a memorial ceremony at Utah Valley University, where he was assassinated .

Erika Kirk has since become CEO of Turning Point USA, carrying on the work her husband began . "His mission is unfinished. And I will not let it die with him," she writes .

For the millions who followed Charlie Kirk's career, the essay is a poignant reminder of the human cost of the public life he lived. And for a movement he built, his widow's words serve as both a eulogy and a call to carry on the work he left unfinished.