Mark Rosato and I met in June of 1989, just as he was graduating from high school, and I was about to enter my senior year. At the time, we were both dating other people but hung out with the same group of people all of the time. We stayed close throughout my senior year, and when I went off to college in August 1996. It was in the fall of 1998 that our relationship changed. I got a call from him during Thanksgiving break to see if I wanted to do some Christmas shopping. Neither of us was in a relationship at the time. We met up and had a great time. The feelings were completely different than they had ever been before. The following week, he came to visit me at college, and as they say, the rest is history.

We continued dating each other as we finished college. Things became serious, and in September of 1994, he asked me to marry him. We had a very traditional wedding, and became husband and wife on October 5, 1996. We bought a house in Perkasie, PA, which is where we lived when all of our children were born. Jake was born in uly of 2000, Samantha in August of 2002 and Danny in October of 2004. Life was good.

It was just before Danny's birth that Mark started a job in Scottsdale, AZ. He traveled back and forth between PA and AZ, finding a house for us here, while I packed the house in PA. Just a few weeks after Danny was born, we moved to AZ in November of 2004. We loved our new life in Arizona, and the new home we made for ourselves in Anthem. Over the next several years, Jake and Samantha started school, played a variety of sports, I stayed home with the kids and we settled into the next phase of life with kids. We had so many plans for the future, for both us as a couple, and all of us, as a family.

On November 24, 2008 everything changed. It was a Monday morning, and I remember Mark calling to say he didn't feel well, and was coming home from work. The kids and I had all been sick with the flu the week prior, so it wasn't a surprise that he was sick. He came home, and rested in bed. In the afternoon I picked the kids up from school, and when we returned, they spent time with him in bed, telling about their day, and wishing for him to feel better. At about 6pm we left him to get some sleep while I took care of dinner and baths for the kids. I went into the room to wake him at about 9pm, but he had passed. He was not breathing, and CPR didn't work. Despite best efforts by the paramedics that came, nothing was able to save him. I remember the neighbors taking the kids once the paramedics and police came. When I knew he was gone, I had to go to the neighbors to tell the kids. I remember sitting them down on the steps, and telling them that their daddy was gone. That he wasn't ever going to come back. Jake and Sam cried, and little Danny was too young to really understand what was going on. For all of us, the unthinkable had just happened. I later found out from the autopsy that he died of a cardiac arrhythmia. Something unforeseeable, which kills in an instant.

Over the last several years, a lot has changed. The kids are doing amazing in school. It hasn't been without its struggles. School work has suffered here and there, usually around 'anniversaries' - Mark's birthday and death date in particular. Samantha has a hard time every year when social events at school are geared to include dads. The kids keep busy outside of school too. Jake plays Pop Warner Football - something he knows his Dad takes pride in. Samantha has been involved in girl scouts, something that helped her when he died. Her Troop really rallied around her to show love and support. That is something we are never short on...we have an amazing group of friends in our lives, including the school and community that has always been there for us. It was also during this time we realized we weren't alone. Karen Turner (founder of Acts of Simple Kindness) reached out to me in the spring of 2009 after we connected on an online message board for young widows. She was the first widow to do that, and over the years the kids and I have become very close to her and her son. Knowing someone who has walked in your shoes, someone you can really relate to is so important in the grieving process.

Life changed again in 2011, when I happened to meet a man named Patrick Taylor. We were introduced by Karen in April 2011. It was a brief encounter, but with social networking these days, we became friends on Facebook. We didn't interact much until Football season came around - we are fans of rival teams. We had plans to watch our teams play each other in October. But before that, I got a text from him wishing me a 'Happy Birthday'. We started dating soon after, and realized we had a very strong connection. Patrick lost a son in September 2010. Not only were we able to relate to each other when it came to loss, but he was also able to relate to the kids. Mark, and his son Chris are both a very big part of our lives. Now, almost a year later, we are living together, creating a life with his son David, my 3 kids, and the both of us. Being in this relationship - in any relationship - was not something I had ever expected. I still love Mark so very much, and I always will. My love for Patrick is completely different. How could it not be - losing a spouse changes you forever. I consider myself a very lucky girl. I have found love twice, with two very different, but equally amazing men. And after a long time I am excited about my future.

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