Half a Decade

”Where do you see yourself in five years?”

I remember hearing this question at the beginning of my freshman year at college. I had just moved into my new apartment with my new husband. I was just about to turn 19, and every moment was a dream come true. 

Back in 2019, I had no idea what my life would look like five years in the future. My life was filled with questions and doubts. Would I be able to handle the stress of college and marriage? Would Brady respond well to his cancer treatment? Would he…die? 

I could barely allow myself to think of my life five years in the future because the uncertainty overwhelmed me. Five years seemed like forever away. Five years seemed like its own lifetime.

Today is Monday, November 25, 2024. Five years ago, on Monday, November 25, 2019, Brady Hunker took his last breath on Earth shortly before noon. This five-year mark seems so unfortunately monumental. In many ways, it feels like Brady was just here with me on this planet, cracking jokes and making me dinner. But so much of my life and so much of the world has changed in five years.

Five years ago, no one knew the word ”COVID” or personally understood the concept of quarantine. The last five years have been filled with political division, war, sickness, and grief. My own life has been marked by periods of deep despair along with seasons of great joy and gratitude.

Though five years apart, both these days on November 25 mark the beginning of Thanksgiving week. When Brady died in 2019, I was so annoyed that he died immediately before this gratitude-seeking holiday. Sitting at Thanksgiving dinner three days after becoming a teenage widow felt torturous and unfair. How could I give thanks when the love of my life had just died of bone cancer days prior?

Five years later, I find the connection between Thanksgiving and Brady’s deathaversary comforting. As I grow and look back on the years I spent with Brady, my soul swells with gratitude. I am so blessed to have loved Brady Hunker and feel even more blessed to have been loved by him.

I’ve met thousands of people in this life, but I have never encountered a more kind and selfless human than Brady. His life was a living witness of God’s perfect love. It is my life’s joy and privilege to have walked alongside Brady in life’s deepest valleys and highest mountains. No one else in all eternity had the gift of being united to Brady in marriage. By God’s grace, I was able to serve Brady in his most painful moments and celebrate with him in his happiest ones. Truly, to know Brady was to better know the person of Jesus. To be loved by him was to receive the patient and compassionate love of God. 

Even though Brady has gone to be with the Lord, God still uses Brady to impact the faith of others. Five years after his death, Brady’s life and testimony still encourage the masses to trust in Jesus no matter the circumstance. Brady’s perseverance and strength continuously encourage me to move forward in the midst of trials and pain. Even after his death, his love for me has encouraged me to better love others.

Half a decade has passed since being with Brady Hunker. However, the love we shared remains today, tomorrow, and forever. Though the years separating our time together will continue to increase, I will never forget the difference this man has made in me. My eternity is forever changed because of the life we shared together. 

Photo: Wild Native Photography