A memorial service held September 21 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona drew an estimated 100,000 people and featured tributes from Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and a tearful speech from Erika. She alternated between laughter and tears while sharing stories of their life together.
But in the weeks since, her public composure — and moments of apparent joy — drew criticism, most notably from commentator Candace Owens, who questioned why Erika wasn’t demanding more answers about her husband’s killing.
Erika finally responded in a candid social-media post:
“One day you’re collapsed on the floor crying out the name Jesus in between labored breaths,”
she wrote.
“The next you’re playing with your children in the living room, surrounded by family photos, and feeling a rush of something you can only attempt to define as divinely planted and bittersweet joy as a smile breaks through on your face.”
She continued,
“They say time heals. But love doesn’t ask to be healed. Love asks to be remembered.”
Carrying Charlie forward
Erika explained that her smiles aren’t signs of denial but expressions of gratitude — moments when memories of Charlie bring warmth instead of only pain.
“I carry my Charlie in every breath, in every ache, and in every quiet act of day-to-day living as I attempt to relearn what that rhythm will be,” she said.
