When Isabel Coles, a North Carolina housewife, got flowers from her late husband, Christopher, on Valentine’s Day months after his terrible de@th, she was in shock.
Having met on a dating service a year and a half ago, the couple had just married in September 2024. Planning a bigger ceremony for May 2025, they wed in a courthouse to beat Christopher’s deployment deadline in October.
Isabel said their relationship was one marked by love and pleasure. Having a love of music, they celebrated their honeymoon at a festival. But Christopher behaved somewhat strangely when he got home. Isabel related, “He went downstairs and tried to get out… he started heading towards the woods.”
She raced upstairs for her shoes in a panic and saw he had a weapon with him. Tragically, Christopher’s father discovered he was dead the following Day.
Over the de@th of her spouse, Isabel expressed shock and sadness. “He was very driven and motivated,” she said, reflecting on his difficulties lacking apparent symptoms. Her lack of caution made her wonder whether she had missed any signals of his discomfort.
This year, for Valentine’s Day, Christopher sent Isabel an unannounced bouquet. The gesture overwhelmed her, so she called the florist for additional specifics. She was surprised to discover Christopher had purchased the flowers in September, expecting his departure and wanting to ensure she had them right around Valentine’s Day.
Isabel told her tale online using a video that attracted much attention. She wants to bring attention to mental health problems even if some viewers attacked her for speaking out. The American Foundation for Su!cide Prevention claims that among Americans between the ages of 10 and 34, su!cide ranks second most-often occurring cause of de@th.
To help the American Foundation for Su!cide Prevention, one mother of one is getting ready to run the Chicago Marathon in October 2025. She said, “Everybody wants a reason why… Nobody thinks that a brilliant, attractive, successful man with a great life wakes up one Day and chooses to take his own life.” Isabel is convinced that she lived a happy marriage and that nothing can take away that memory from her.
She said, “He certainly was fighting demons and no one knew about it. I’m not doing well; there is a part of me lost permanently.”
Isabel said her husband thought others would be better off without him, adding he would never injure her deliberately. She said her spouse wouldn’t have deliberately hurt her.
Through her activism and personal story, Isabel aspires to start discussions on mental health, empowering individuals experiencing comparable challenges to assist in self-help. Using her activism and personal narrative, Isabel aspires to begin discussions on mental health, therefore enabling others experiencing similar challenges to assist themselves.
