James Van Der Beek’s widow, Kimberly Van Der Beek, is honoring what would have been the couple’s 16th wedding anniversary months after his heartbreaking death.
“16 years ago I was the luckiest woman in the world to marry @vanderjames,” Kimberly, 44, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, August 1. “The beauty of this marriage continues to unfold everyday with all these incredible children we have. He continues to be present and guide us. I’m eternally grateful. 🙏🌹😍🥰.”
James died five months earlier in February after battling colorectal cancer. He was 48.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith and grace,” Kimberly wrote in a social media statement at the time, announcing James’ death. “There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity, and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.”
In addition to Kimberly, the Dawson’s Creek actor is survived by the couple’s six children. The Van Der Beeks have since been vocal about honoring James’ memory following his death.
“Yesterday was three months since we lost @vanderjames. To say I’m heartbroken is a severe understatement. Words just don’t capture what grief is,” Kimberly wrote via Instagram in May. “The comforts of shock have worn off. The reality is settling in … and I miss him. We all miss him. Yet, there is a different kind of magic in the air.”
She continued at the time, “I feel him. I know him more deeply. My conscious connection to God has deepened. The veils of the universe have thinned. And I trust that this is the path me and my family have always been intended to walk. The outpouring of support has been tremendous. It’s held our family in the most beautiful of ways.”
Their 9-year-old daughter, Emilia, shared her own comments on grief months earlier.
“The number one thing for somebody’s passing is to talk to them and let your emotions out,” Emilia said in a March Instagram video shared on James’ birthday. “If you miss them, you can cry, you can talk to them. … I talk to my dad every day, and I start with a sentence and I say, ‘Hi Dad, I miss you and I love you so much, and I’ll never stop loving you,’ and I just tell him about my day, how I’m feeling, and I tell my family how I’m feeling.”
