So sad. Craig Strickland's widow, Helen Strickland, shared an emotional memory of the couple's first date as she paid tribute to her late husband at his funeral service.
The Backroad Anthem singer was remembered as a kind, loving and religious man by his family and friends who gathered at Cross Church in Rogers, Arkansas, on Tuesday, January 12, after his tragic death alongside friend Chase Morland on a duck hunting trip last month.
During the emotionally charged service, Strickland's wife, mother, father and sister all took turns to pay tribute to the man who was taken from them at just 29 years of age.
Strickland's wife, Helen, who had previously asked fans to pray for her to have the strength to get her through the memorial, admitted she was "just getting started" on her path of grief.
Addressing the gathered crowd in a prerecorded video, the former Miss Arkansas recalled her first date with her late husband.
"For Craig's and my first date, he took me to Mt. Sequoia, that lookout point," she revealed, adding that "for a girl, that made me a little nervous at first."
"He turned and looked at me and said, 'I've come to realize that relationships are the only thing that we take with us to heaven,'" she added.
"I love you, Craig Michael Strickland," she said, as her address came to a close. "And I love each of you, as he did."
Strickland's father also recalled a poignant moment — one in which his son took him on the road to watch him open for Lynyrd Skynyrd. The country music star shared a photograph of his dad via social media as they traveled to the gig, captioning the picture to say that making his dad proud was the best thing about his job.
At the end of the funeral, Helen was given space to leave the venue before everyone else, with a request that her privacy be respected at such a difficult time.
Earlier that day, the brave widow shared with fans a copy of the letter she had put in her husband's pocket before he was buried.
"I love you with all my heart," she wrote. "You were my person and the one love of my earthly life."
