Bobbie Thomas shared a poignant tribute to her late husband, Michael Marion, to mark what would have been his 44th birthday this week.
The TODAY style contributor honored Marion with a photo and video montage on Instagram, set to the song “Slipping Through My Fingers” by Ethan Hodges.
She included photos and footage of their wedding day, birthday celebrations, and sweet moments spent with their 7-year-old son, Miles.
In the caption, Thomas explained why she initially hesitated to share these memories on social media.
“I paused before posting this because a part of me worried it might make others feel uncomfortable or sad for me, but in that same moment I didn’t want to give death the power to erase my feelings,” she wrote.
“Moving forward does not mean erasing the past,” she continued. “It’s hard enough to carry loss without propping up the additional burden of feeling isolated and ashamed for not being ‘over it’. So I post this not to dwell, but to feel.”
She finished her post, “Missing you Michael, celebrating you, happy bday love. Xx.”
Marion died at age 42 in 2020. The year before, he suffered an ischemic stroke and dealt with health complications afterward.
“Michael worked hard to recover from his stroke and had made such progress that he was making plans to return to work,” Thomas said in a December 2020 statement after his death. “He landed in the hospital due to problems involving several organ systems, separate from his stroke of 18 months ago, and unrelated to COVID-19.”
Thomas marked her late husband’s birthday on Instagram last year as well, sharing a photo of her and Miles blowing out a birthday candle, and another picture of Miles sitting on the beach, “remembering Daddy at his favorite spot.”Related: