Kristi and Paul Root

Many of you know that my sister Kristi's husband died last week. I posted his obituary if you want to read it. He was an awesome person and a perfect husband to Kristi. This past week has been pretty crazy, but I just wanted to share some thoughts about Paul, their marriage, and lessons learned from this experience.

1) Paul was a great person. He always had the biggest smile on his face. He was very innocent and could always make you laugh. He loved clean shoes (just like Kristi), could eat an enormous amount of food (and still stay skinny), and would call me randomly just to talk. He was full of faith and could share his testimony with anyone, anywhere. He wanted more than anything to be a missionary and to be a good husband and make Kristi happy.

2) Kristi and Paul were perfect together. They helped one another with their strengths and weaknesses. No one has made my sister more happy/giddy then Paul. From their first date if anyone ever mentioned the name "Paul" she would get this twinkle in her eye and couldn't resist smiling! Kristi and Paul exemplified true love. Paul was bipolar and in November had an attack. I won't go into details, but I will say that my sister stayed by his side and did everything she could to make him happy. She was a new bride and had just started a challenging program in dental hygiene and instead of running away and giving up, she rose to the occasion and loved his bipolar disorder and everything that came with it. She never lost faith and during challenging times she put herself aside and did everything she could to take care of Paul and make him happy. She was a true example of someone who was truly in love--she put Paul before herself and woke up every morning thinking about what she could do for him--he also did the same for her. His bi-polar disorder ended up taking his life unexpectedly on March 25th.

3)As you can imagine many emotions arise during times like this. I have never had more respect for my parents and for Kristi as I have watched them rise to the occasion and take the upper road on many issues that have presented themselves during this past week. Rumors spread, things are said that are not true, and people sometimes get mixed up in the emotions of things and do things that aren't always fair. Kristi has endured a lot this week and through it all she hasn't cast blame on anyone, instead she reaches out with love and compassion--just like she did for Paul--and says "I understand, they are going through difficult times". She has acted like the Savior would act, and I applaud her for that. She has been comforted, and so has my family, in knowing that it was Paul's time to go and that he is in a better place and is happy. He has always wanted to be a missionary, and with the ordinances he made in the Temple with Kristi, he can be of great service on the other side of the veil. We know that he is with our Heavenly Father in Heaven and is in a better place than we are in. We also know that Kristi and Paul will be reunited again because of the sealing power that was given to them in the Temple when they were married. This earth life is only a short time and when they are reunited they will be able to create a family together. We have been so blessed during this past week and our faith has increased in knowing that the Lord watches over us and gives us the things we need to be comforted.

Kristi gave a beautiful testimony at Paul's funeral. She expressed her love for Paul and for the Savior. She also talked about one of their favorite movies--Finding Nemo. One of the themes is "keep on swimming, keep on swimming" and that is what Kristi is doing. She doesn't want people to feel sorry for her, she just wants everyone to keep on swimming because that is what Paul would want. She is my hero--she is truly full of love, compassion, selflessness, and understands the true meaning of life. She is far more mature than her age and I hope someday I can catch up to her. Love you tons Sister!