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Vanessa Lanktree from Canada was left devastated after her high school sweetheart, Eric, died in a freak motorbike accident just two months after celebrating their second wedding anniversary in 2016.
But the absence of her late husband hasn’t stopped the now 29-year-old from celebrating their love.
If anything, she uses their anniversary to honour him by posing in her breathtaking bridal gown, Metro reported.
The pair, who met when they were in high school, knew from the outset that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
“He was my first boyfriend, my first love,” Vanessa said.
“Our relationship through the years was so strong because it started so young. I had no doubt about our lives together.”
Unfortunately, their union was cut short when Eric, who was 25 years old at the time, died in a head-on collision with a truck in November 2014.
The horrific crash occurred while he was making his way back from a holiday with his father and friends in Las Vegas in the US, Daily Mail reported.
“I thought he’d need to see me when he woke up . . . I thought it would be all right. I kept thinking: ‘He’s strong. He’s a fighter.’ I didn’t realise how severe it was,” Vanessa said.
READ MORE: Husband buries wife in wedding dress four months after tying the knot
In 2016, just a day after what would’ve been their fourth anniversary, the widow decided to slip into her wedding gown again. And she’s been doing it every year since.
“Grief doesn’t go away but somehow you find little things to help you cope, like putting on your dress,” she said.
According to Fox News, this year she asked her boyfriend, Kurtis Isbister, to capture her in her wedding gown in a field of sunflowers.
In a heartwarming Instagram post, Vanessa, who’s also a photographer, penned a special dedication to Eric. “My husband & I would’ve celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary on September 8th. Every year I put my dress on and take photos of myself. Eric Lanktree, I still have your number on my phone, wishing I could call you & see if you’re able to have lunch with me. You were taken from us way too soon.”
Check out the pictures in honour of Vanessa’s late husband below:
Sources: Metro, Daily Mail, Fox News, Instagram
