Craig Strickland, the lead singer of country group Backroad Anthem, went out on duck hunt on Kaw Lake in Oklahoma with his friend Chase Moreland in December 2015. Neither one of them ever came home.
The pair got caught up in winter storm Goliath, and their boat capsized. Authorities discovered the capsized boat first, and recovered Chase and Craig’s bodies days later.
At the time of his passing, Craig had only been married to his wife, Helen, for one year.
Helen Strickland remembers Craig Strickland by the heartwarming final texts he sent her: https://t.co/PMpy551RWS pic.twitter.com/6hqmZZlpcj
— E! News (@enews) January 5, 2017
Helen leaned heavily on her faith to help her cope with the loss of her husband. She began sharing that faith with the world, and became a public speaker to help others who have experienced hard times in life.
Two years after becoming a widow, Helen was visiting the cemetery with Craig’s family when his stepmom approached her. “We want you to know that we want you to be happy too,” Helen recalled Craig’s stepmom as saying. “You don’t need our permission, but if you were waiting for it, we want to tell you to move forward with your life.”
With the blessing of the Strickland family, Helen did move on. She eventually reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Andrew Peters, and the pair married in April 2018.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpVkts5lJQA/
Now, just a little over a year after Helen and Andrew said “I do,” they are overjoyed to announce that they are expecting their first child.
Helen announced the happy news on August 24. She said that she and Andrew had “been praying for this little one for several months now.”
The couple doesn’t yet know the gender of their baby, which is due on February 29 (leap day).
Along with the announcement, Helen shared a few photos that show off her emerging baby bump. She and Andrew seem to be over-the-moon excited to be welcoming a little one into the world!
https://www.facebook.com/helenelizabethspeaks/posts/2207637226032445
“Thank you everyone for all the love and prayers!” Helen graciously wrote at the end of her pregnancy announcement post.
In another post made a week after her initial announcement, Helen expressed her sympathy for those struggling to conceive. She revealed that she was actually pregnant before, but that she lost the baby in January.
“I can empathize with your feelings of loss,” she wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wP9gsAMG9/
After everything Helen’s been through, she deserves all of the happiness in the world. Congratulations to her and Andrew on their upcoming addition!