Hi everyone,

My name is Brittni Henkels, and I live in Minnetonka, MN, with my two beautiful children; Ella, who is 9, and Ruby, 6.

Together with my husband, our girls and various fur and fin-babies, we spent the last decade building a family and life for ourselves. A life of joy, a life of pain, of celebrations and commiserations, of funerals and festivals, and of so much immense love, that at times I would just be left speechless in awe. There was so much beauty to behold in every day life, that even now I am just fully starting to appreciate and truly realize, how absolutely BLESSED I was to have been a part of it… Was everything always ideal and picture perfect? No, of course not; we are still human, after all. But those times were always overshadowed by the ones that couldn’t help but make you wonder, “isn’t this too good to be true?”

Well unfortunately, that question (which would be ever present on my mind) was answered last Wednesday morning, when the man whom I believe to have been my soulmate, and who I was blessed with the pleasure of loving, with all of my heart & soul for over a decade, tragically & suddenly, passed away - completely & utterly alone - at only 38-years-old.

Full details are as of yet unclear and pending autopsy, but my Derie had a bad heart, and way, WAY too many overly-dismissive and apathetic “healthcare professionals” (along with other people in his life) who didn’t give my baby the care he so desperately needed…

He leaves behind two beautiful daughters - Ella, 9 & Ruby, 6 - who desperately love - and miss him - very, very much…

Having to explain to my two sweet baby girls, that their father was never coming back, was by far, the hardest thing I have ever had to do. And something I never imagined would come to pass…

What is perhaps the worst part of everything, is that out of the entire family, none of us got to say, “Goodbye.”…

Not myself, nor our daughters, nor Derek to any of us, and in fact, I never got to even hear his voice that day…

Needless to say, the next few months/years/moments, are going to be *extremely* challenging for us, and we have already went through quite a bit of money just trying to keep our minds busy and our bodies moving, so that we don’t collapse into constant fits of grief. Sporadic - yes, - but not constant…

Unfortunately, due to chronic illness and other health problems, my income is limited to disability checks every month, which is a federal payment that I receive monthly for having paid into the worker’s insurance system… It will eventually be more when everything has been worked out, but for the first few weeks/months of this journey, money is going to be a very precious commodity and, if I’m to be honest, not something I’d absolutely love to have to worry TOO much about with everything else going on in our world.

It is for that reason that I have decided to make this page, and ask for help from our very many wonderful family and friends; which I definitely do NOT do with any sort of pleasure, but out of a need to make sure that Derek’s children - his ultimate legacy - are well-taken care of while they grieve their beloved Daddy.

Thank you, everyone. And I’m so, SO sorry for our immense loss!!! Derek was truly my best friend, my other half, my mirror image and my soulmate; and I will NEVER forget the love we had for each other!!!

I will never stop loving him! I will be his Bride until the day I cross over to meet him on the other side… ❤️.