Leave the Light On

In February 2021,  Eric Sauser, husband of Crystal and father of three, passed away. The cause of death was leukemia, but according to his obituary, which was written by his "smoking hot wife," he died of being "dead sexy." The moment Crystal sat down to write Eric's obituary she knew she needed to share with the rest of the world Eric's love for his family, friends, the Kansas City Chiefs ("before being a Chief's fan was cool") and any old Chevy he saw on the road, among other things...

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Transcript

This text may not be distributed or published online without documented or written permission from Shadow Clock Podcast. Transcripts are generated using a combination of human beings and AI software (i.e., speech recognition) and therefore may contain errors. Please reference the corresponding audio before quoting in print. Special thanks to Cindy Mahalic Higgerson, Spencer Masternak, Bruce Scivally, and Alec Jansen for making these transcriptions possible.

START OF EPISODE

Crystal Sauser

You know, Eric and I, we knew what was going to happen, we were very realistic in the situation. But when he passed away that day... so I was very prepared for that moment. The medical side of that moment. But I wasn't prepared for the emotional side of the wife and the kids and what the pain that came following that, and the loss that came following that last breath, which I will never forget the way it sounded. So, it was on Friday he passed away, you know, we went through our motions Friday evening. Saturday morning, I woke up and I realize it hit me like everything is now my responsibility. Like everything. It's all me. And I knew I had to plan his funeral. And so, I didn't want to do that because I don't see significant value in traditional methods of, you know, celebration of life, etc.

So I woke up, I went to the funeral home, and when I got there, they were very kind. You know, they cared about me. And I can tell that with certainty. But they had no idea how to deal with me. And so, they tried to put me into a box. Well, if you know me, you can't put me into a box.

I don't do boxes, I don't do conformity, I do what's right and I do what's real. And I do it based on what a human needs and feels. And so I walked out of there just like, you know, they gave me a template, and the template was great, but it was for mature older woman, you know, what about this young, sexy, amazing partner that I had?

And so I walked out of there and I was like, you know what? They want an obituary- I'm going to give them the obituary of a lifetime.

Katie Mahalic

I came to know Crystal, Eric and their family the same way many others were introduced to them, through the words Crystal wrote for her husband, Eric Sauser after he died on February 26, 2021, at just 43 years old. Eric's obituary got the world's attention, literally. You can see comments from all over the globe on the website that host Crystal's heartbreakingly hilarious description of her husband. You're probably questioning my use of heartbreakingly hilarious to describe an obituary. But after you hear it yourself, and I'll be sharing it in a little while, I think you'll understand exactly what I mean. Like so many others, I felt honored to be reading about Eric and his life with Crystal and their kids, Amelia, Violet and Benjamin. But for me, their story was personal and familiar. Their oldest daughter, Amelia, was 11 when she lost her dad, the same age I was when my dad died all the way back in 1990. And like Eric, my dad was in his early forties when he passed away. 40, to be exact. My dad died of a brain tumor. In Eric's case, he had leukemia. Both of them were sick just a little over a year before they were gone. I felt like our families looked so similar on the surface. It was kind of eerie. Violet and my brother were about seven. Ben and my sister were both four. And my mom, like Crystal, was only in her thirties when both of our families were forced to say goodbye to these men we truly adored. After reading Eric's obituary, I thought about the Sauser family for months, until finally I decided to call Crystal. I just had to know more about this amazing human being that walked among us for 43 years. Eric and Crystal, I hope I can do your story justice. You will forever be a reminder of what love really looks like. This one's for you guys. I'm Katie Mahalic, and you're listening to Shadow Clock. It was 2003 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Crystal: My sister, she was recently single. And she wanted to go out and she took me and my friend Trish and made us be her wingman. And Eric walks into the bar and I turned around and there he is, this tall, dark hair, olive skin, this beautiful human. And I just took a risk. I don't normally take a risk like that. And I just yelled, “Hey, don't you wanna dance?” And he just looked at me and was like, “We're going upstairs.” And I was like, “Well, I'm not going upstairs, so whatever.” And then he comes back down the stairs a little bit later that evening, and I said, “Hey, big guy, I thought you were going to dance with us.” I'm five foot five, he's six foot six. So he's not a large man, but he's certainly very tall. And so I said that and he just looked at me and he was like, “we're leaving. I got to go with my friends!” And walked out and I was like, “Wow, okay, fine.” Well, later that evening, we had gone out to another establishment and there he was. That's when it was instant chemistry. He saw me, I saw him. I ran up to him and I said- I don't remember what I said, but that was our very first kiss. It was from there on we were not apart. That was a Friday. On a Sunday he called me and the rest is complete history. 

Katie (talking online w/ Crystal) 

Do you remember where you were for your first date?

Crystal:

I do. We went to go shoot pool with some of my very best friends, and Erica and I are so different. We are complete opposite you know shooting pool and I remember turning to my friend Katie, and I was like, “What do you think? Do like him?” And she's like, “No. Oh you... no I don't he's just not your style. And I was like, “What?” And he's not. He wasn't. He's not at all like me. He's not even a little bit. But, he loved me and I love him, so 

Katie (talking online w/ Crystal):

Did she end growing to like him or was it?

Crystal:

Oh yeah. Yeah. Eric didn't have an enemy in the world. Eric would think he had an enemy, but he never... everyone loved that guy. Oh My god. Eric in our dating years, he loved me unconditionally. So, no matter what happened, he just loved me. And I had never had that before. Growing up in a smaller town. Yeah, I went to college, and you know, I came from small town Nebraska into a larger town in Omaha. You know, you can get be uh, you know, small fish in a big sea. And so, Eric just loved me and gave me that love and attention when we were dating. I mean, we never stopped doing that ever. Everyone will tell you, he put me on a pedestal, um, but that attention was just so safe. Like, he just wrapped his arms around me all the time, and I just always felt safe with him.

Katie:

Listening to Crystal talk about Eric all those years ago, more than 17 years ago, made me feel like I was listening to a teenager describe the love of her life. I don't know if you can hear that far off look in her eye, complementing her girlish giggles, but I could. I believed every smitten sounding word she said because she spoke about Eric's quirks with the same kind of affection. You know it's love when someone even seems to adore your weirdness, to put it bluntly. As I got to know Eric, both through his obituary and through my conversation with Crystal, I began to learn Eric had plenty of weirdness to love, especially when focusing on the things he hated, which among other things, were beets and turning off the garage light. I decided to ask Crystal what was up with Eric's hate over the garage light.

Crystal:

It’s not even that funny of a story. It's just him.

Katie (talking online w/ Crystal):

Did he- did he forget to shut it off or wanted it on?

Crystal:

No no, he wanted it on. He told me that it was going to help keep the garage warm in the winter, [Crystal Laughs] like that was the stupidest thing anyone has ever said, Eric! And he said, “Well, I'm going to go with it. I'm leaving it on.” And I said, “Whatever floats your boat, dude.” And so, we just always left the light on. He is funny because he's so particular. And so, I think that's the funniest part is him being so structurally regimented, it just makes him very humorous.

Katie:

In fact, Eric was so particular that it could also cost him the chance to have a perfect moment go perfectly wrong, which in Eric's case seemed to often make things all the more perfectly memorable.

Crystal:

So Eric and I had gone to Hawaii to visit my sister, and so everywhere we went in Hawaii, he carried a backpack. And it was a big backpack, it was a hiking backpack, and we weren't hiking, I just didn't understand why he had to carry a backpack. And it was a point of contention; I couldn't stand it. And so we did many different adventures. We were surfing one day and he had the dumb backpack and he wouldn't go surfing with me because he was like, “I need the backpack.” And I was like, “Why? Tell me why?” And he wouldn't. And that night he begged me to go to watch a sunset with him. And I said, “I'm not going anywhere with you! I'm sunburned, leave me alone!” And so the next morning we were leaving Hawaii, and he said to my sister, “Hey, can you pull over? I need to do something here real quick.” And I'm sitting in the car going, “Eric, let's go. We're going to be late for the airplane.” And he goes, “Can you just get out of the car?” And I turned, put my phone away, get out of the car. And there he is, down on one knee, 5:00 in the morning on a rock in Kaneohe, um, Marine Corps base

Katie (talking online w/ Crystal):

On the way to the Airport?

Crystal:

On the way to the way to the airport on their very last day in Hawaii. So, it was in the backpack the whole time. So the story about the backpack was that the ring was in the backpack. And that's why he took it everywhere, waiting for the perfect moment. But that's totally Eric waiting and waiting for the perfect moment and letting every moment pass by. I will never forget that moment ever. 

Katie:

Eric and Crystal got married August 8th of 2008. At this point, they had a dog named Harvey who gave them a good practice run for the three kids they would eventually have. 

Crystal: 

Harvey was a forever puppy. So he was a chocolate lab that he would walk around, and we called it drive by licking. So, he would just walk past you and lick you anywhere. He’d lick you in your privates, he’d lick you in your feet, lick you anywhere you want. And everyone loved to hate Harvey. They'd say, “I'm not coming over there. until you put Harvey outside!” Poor Harvey, he had a bad rap. But he was our baby. Everyone knew about Harvey. Everyone in our life knew that Harvey was our everything, until we had our first. 

Katie:

Amelia was born about a year after Crystal and Eric were married, and two years later came Violet. 

Crystal:

Eric as a dad, he was so proud. Like he loved those kids so much. He loved that he had created those tiny humans. And so that proudness just drove everything he did. And after we had our second my career really escalated really quickly. So, he was really this--the dad and he did everything for them. He loved our girls so much. And when I had Benjamin, he was beyond excited about the fact that we were having a boy. And on Eric's birthday, I had Ben, you know, it was four weeks early and, um, I went into labor, got to the hospital, and I was dilated to seven, and I pushed through one contraction and at 11:59 p.m. with 30 seconds to go, I had Benjamin on Eric's birthday. And he loved everything about them. He was so hands on, he drove them everywhere. Seeing him driving up with those three kids in the back of his car and just knowing how proud he was to pull into his driveway with his kids was probably one of the moments that I- I'll never forget. Those- just those random days. I can just picture it today. Like, he was Mr. Dad. 

Katie: 

Hearing Crystal talk about Eric and the kids made me remember just how invincible kids believe their parents are. I believed nothing could ever happen to either of mine. At least until I was 11, that is. When he was--when you guys got the diagnosis was how was he with that?

Crystal:

So the diagnosis was just weird. It- the best way to describe it is bizarre. It was just one day we were cooking with gas and the next day we weren't. He'd been tired and he'd been sweating at night, and he was carrying my daughter upstairs and he said, you know, “I’m out of breath.” And I was like, “If you're sick go to the doctor, I don’t know what to tell you.” And so he did. And the doctor, just his labs were crazy. And we went from an appointment with the doctor to, “you have to go see a hematologist,” to you have MDS, which is a form of leukemia. It was so intense; it was so quick. It was so, “this is what you're going to do.” And we realized at that moment when we first were diagnosed that we--we lost control. All of a sudden, people were telling us what to do, where to go, where to be, what to eat, how to dress, you know, for anything that we had to get done. And we just-- we went from normal to, “this is what we're doing now.” Induction chemotherapy to stem cell transplants to a short time in remission. And then we relapsed and treatment and we spent six weeks in California doing some experimental studies. And we navigated all of this during COVID. He's... he was a very quiet person, so he didn't talk much about it. But he... I mean just... the realization, the fact that he just came to the conclusion that, “I am sick and this is what I have to do to fight for my family.” And that's the glory of Eric and I; We don't... we didn't say, “why us,” you know, we're not saying, “we're not going to do this,” or we want to, you know, we just said, “okay, that's what we have to do. That's what we're going to do.” And so we took off and embraced the journey right away. We had a wonderful doctor, um, who took such good care of us, um, him and our nurse. I mean, we had this amazing care team that I wouldn't trade for the world. And if I could give those two-- if I could give those two a medal of Honor, I mean I would just shout their praises. They did everything they could do to help us successfully get through this. I've-- I have never asked, though, and I'm sure if I did, they would tell me truthfully, but I think they knew too. It was not favorable at diagnosis. 

Katie: 

I remembered believing my dad would truly get better up to the very last week he was alive before he slipped into a coma. I think my mom and my aunts and the other adults in my family also kind of thought there would be some kind of miracle as well. There had to be. I wondered if Crystal and Eric thought the same thing. 

Crystal: 

Well, Eric tends to overcome odds all of the time. He was in a very bad car accident when he was 16. And, and he tells the story that he was pronounced dead at one moment and had significant brain--a brain injury and recovered from it. And so Eric has always been the Phoenix 

rising. And just when you think something won't get done or Eric has no idea what he's talking about, here comes Eric and he comes through for the kill. He fixes everything with the best tools you can find. And so he just made everything right all the time. He took care of everything. And so I had this hope that there would be a miracle. I always hoped that there would be a miracle, but the realist in me realized our fight was an uphill battle. He fought so long and so hard, even though our journey was, you know, just over 18 months, probably just over 18 months, he fought so incredibly hard during that time, he couldn't catch a break. I recall Eric was in the hospital last summer and, um, I don't share this a ton, but, you know, Eric, I couldn't get to see him, so he- I would- he would be sick and I would get in the car. I'd have to call someone to come over here hoping that they don't have COVID to stay with the kids. While I would run Eric to the hospital and I'd run him down there and he would walk out of my car with 104 fever, blood clots, like he could barely walk. And I would just be like “seen ya,” because I couldn't go in and I couldn't be his advocate. And then he would go in and the health care professionals were doing their job. They were doing the best that they could do, but they weren't telling me what was going on because they had so many patients to say what was going on. So you were just literally at home in the dark wondering, “Well what happened to him? Where is he at? How is he doing?” And you can't hold him. You can't do anything. His parents couldn't see him. You know, nobody could see him because we didn't know what was going to happen with COVID. And so he, you know, he just had to be up there alone, um, but COVID in this process was absolutely horrific to try to navigate through what we were going through. The kids and I would talk to him from home and we had to, one time we had to go see him through glass. And I can't imagine how he felt. And we are all sitting outside like, “we love you, we love you,” and we're all together and happy and healthy. And there he is in a wheelchair, covered from head-to-toe in blankets, covered from head-to-toe in... you know, IVs, his feet were swollen, He couldn't walk, you know. How did he feel? He... Eric never complained, ever. He didn't ever complain. He would just go about and handle it every day. So, he's so selfless. 

Katie:

When at home, Eric and Crystal kept things as normal as possible. 

Crystal: 

So, he did not like kids in bed, in fact he hated it. And I would always say “they're not going to do it forever. What's the big deal?” But when Dad would go to the hospital, I would say, “I know dad is sick and has to go to the hospital. But the good news is that we sleeping together!” And so, we would all sleep together. 

Katie: 

Eric also hated snow on the driveway. 

Crystal: 

Eric was very sick all winter, and even in January the guy would be out there with a broom and dustpan, scooping up snow [Crystal laughs] in Nabraska! Cause he wouldn't want me to drive over snow. And so I would go to the gym every morning. I go every morning and he wakes up and he would scoop the driveway before I left because heaven forbid, I have to drive over a driveway that’s full of snow. In fact, this year my neighbor, he's quite a bit older he's--he's upper 70. He sent me a text that the picture of Eric who had snuck out of the house. I was at work and Eric got up and went out there and had gone down to the bottom of the driveway just to chop up ice because he didn't want the ice on the driveway for me. And so, I texted him and said, “Doug said, you're being naughty.” And he's like, “I can't leave the ice on the driveway!” But the guy could barely walk. He could barely keep food down. But here he is out there chipping away at ice. So we have a driveway that's clear for us. That's the type of person I married.

Katie:

I thought of Eric shoveling the driveway between hospital stays. It made me reflect on what we do as human beings to keep things feeling normal when they're not. Shortly after January, the same January that Eric was out there shoveling snow, Eric went back into the hospital. 

Crystal: 

He'd been in the hospital for a long time, and Dr. Al-kadhimi finally found a way for me to get up there. And he, you know, he was being as creative as he could be to, to find a way. And finally, they call in palliative health care. And palliative health care is not necessarily hospice, but it says we're on our way to hospice. And so he called in a palliative consult and I got to go see him for the first time. And I just remember that moment of being with him and holding him. And then he asked me to dance. And so we danced to our wedding song that day in the hospital room. And I can't thank Dr. Al-kadhimi enough for giving us that chance to be together.

Katie:

That was the last time Eric chose to go to the hospital. 

Crystal: 

At the end when he wasn't well, I said, “Eric, you need to go in.” And he said, “I will not go back there.” 

Katie: 

After 18 long months, the majority of them spent during the first year of the pandemic, their families started to prepare for the inevitable. At home, together.

Crystal Sauser

We didn't hide anything like we didn't... we didn't... there's no whispering behind closed doors in our house. There's no muffled conversations. It was, “This is what it is. We're all doing this together.” He went into just the medical induced kind of end of life situation, and that would only last about 48 hours. And so, you know, the morning that he passed away, I had them come in and say goodbye to him just like I would normally do. And then they went off to school and... in true Eric fashion, it was meticulously timed because our kids were getting out of school at three. And to know Eric, you know everything is particular and it is meticulous, and it always just works. So, it was 1:30, um, We had some company over, I sent the company away, and I said, “I just want to go lay down with Eric for a little bit.” And I put on my--my favorite show, his least favorite show. Um, and so I was watching The Mindy Project and I turned it off and I lay down next to him and he took a staggered breath and that was it. It was... our journey here had ended at that moment, so... And, you know, I was also angry because when they came to get him and take him away, they came in a minivan. Right. And I was expecting this grandiose hearse, like the Ghostbusters hearse or something like that, right. So, I told them, you know, I want a more of a chariot exit for this guy. Um, it did not show up unfortunately. 

Katie: 

The deplorable minivan took Eric away, and he was gone before the kids came home from school.

Crystal:

I remember saying to, you know, “Dad, Dad's gone. You know, we talked about this yesterday, that dad might not be here today.” And, you know, they said, “did Dad die?” And I said, “yeah, Dad-Dad's dead. And, and Dad’s gone. And my son couldn't quite figure out where- where he was. And, “But when is he coming back?” And I said, “he's not coming back.” And, um, we're blessed with really amazing neighbors. And this young boy next door, he's only ten, but he's really a part of our family grabbed Benjamin and just said, “you know what? He's in heaven. He's in heaven with Harvey and he's going to watch over you now. And that's where he's at and that's where he's going to be.” And so, we cried together and we, um, what I call just be, right. That's the most important thing to do, is to just be. When he passed away that day, I wasn't prepared for the emotional side of the wife and the kids and what the pain that came following that and the loss that came following that last breath, which I will never forget the way it sounded. You know, we went through our motions Friday evening, Saturday morning, I woke up and I realized it hit me like everything is now my responsibility. Like everything. It's all me. And I knew I had to plan his funeral. And so, I went to the funeral home. They had no idea how to deal with me. You know what about this young, sexy, amazing partner that I had? And so, I walked out of there and I was like, you know what? They want an obituary, I'm going to give them the obituary of a lifetime. And so, I just started typing and it just all came to me. It was, it was truly, uh, an amazing, energizing moment to write that obituary. Eric A. Sauser, AKA Super Dad, AKA Easy, just a rockin' dude from Omaha, NE passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday, [Crystal’s voice fades into Katie’s] February 26, 2021, at the age of 43 with his wife by his side.

Katie:

His departure was just in time for him to make his spiritual appearance at every Red Sox spring game. Eric is survived by his wife, Crystal and three children, Amelia, Violet and Benjamin all of whom will likely sleep in the same bed for many years to come (sorry, Eric). He is also survived by his loving and caring parents, Ronnie and Paula Sauser, and his sister and aunt extraordinaire, Jessica Sauser. In addition to his immediate family, Eric leaves behind an incredible extended family and many, many friends. He is preceded in death by billions, including his dog Harvey who most of us loved to hate. We are confident they are joyfully reconnecting right now. If you knew Eric, you knew you were loved, and there is a good chance he told you that – probably sober, but maybe not. During his time here, he found a way into everyone's heart. Eric loved, in this order, his smoking hot wife, his brilliant kids and family, his many friends, the Boston Red Sox, the Kansas City Chiefs (before being a Chiefs fan was cool), the Huskers, Liverpool Football, QT iced tea, Adidas sneakers, fishing, backpacking, hiking, hunting, and any old Chevy he saw on the road. Eric hated sad stories, beets, romantic comedies, a snow packed driveway and turning off the garage light. That's it. Eric was content with most everything else. We are not positive, but we think the cause of death was either leukemia or more likely being "dead sexy". [Katie’s voice fades into Crystals] Eric…

Crystal:

we've always loved you and miss you already. A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at 2pm at Roeder Mortuary, 2727 N 108th St. The family will receive guests from 1-2pm with the Service following. Admission is free to all who attend this once in a lifetime show for the greatest man on earth. Following the Service, the family requests jamming out to Ozzy Osborne and raising a cold beer (preferably Busch Light) in celebration of Eric's life. In lieu of flowers, please pray that the Huskers have a winning season, or send a donation to The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society in Eric's name to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. He would appreciate either or both. That’s it!

Katie:

The obituary created a massive amount of supportive energy for Crystal and Eric's family and comments left on the page where the obituary was posted started to come in from people close to home and as far away as China, New Zealand, Europe and Australia. The Boston Red Sox sent the family a care package, Adidas sent the entire family shoes in honor of Eric. The Kansas City Chiefs sent gifts. People sent pictures of Fenway Park. 

Crystal: 

It was just, people kept reaching out. The funeral home said, “well, we'll start delivering your packages to you,” because I didn't want anything delivered to our home and so they became our assistant for a while. So, yeah, it was- it was such a surreal time. I can't even, now I look back and I just laugh at how that all happened, but I feel like I kind of shocked a lot of people by doing what we did, but I-I think at the end of the day, it was us, it was who we are, and I think it was a great way to commemorate him. I have always used humor in my life. I find that it gets you through tough times. I find that it's, you know, it's healing, but, um, it-it's hard. Sometimes the hardest thing is putting a foot on the floor every day. Um, sometimes the hardest is not hav- just not having him here, right? Just not having his physical presence. Not being able to ask him how he's feeling. Not being able to hear how his day went. So I think that and the fact that the kids don't get to have him anymore is probably the hardest part for me.

Katie:

The kids. I remember the months following my dad's death and how in many ways they were harder than seeing him sick. Because when he was sick, there was still hope everything would be okay. Hope is everything. I remember small things like setting the table for five and putting all the dishes down before realizing I was supposed to set it for four. I don't want Amelia or Violet or Ben or Crystal to have to put down five dishes, only to realize they have to put one away. No kid, no grown person, for that matter, should ever have to put away unused dishes.

Crystal:

Today we're all working through it and-and we have ways that we handle it in our house. For example, we had these really high winds in Nebraska on Saturday, and we had tons of damage and trees were down. And-and my son, we were in the basement because the, uh, the sirens were going off, he said, “Do you think dad is going to be okay?” Because dad is very much so alive in our lives. And I said, “Yeah, Dad's going to be fine. Of course, he's wrapping his body over our house right now and protecting us.” Right, that's what we do. We celebrate him every single day. There's not a day that goes by that we don't talk about, you know, “Who farted? I'm sure it was Dad. Right?” I mean that's our normal day in our life around here. And so, um, he's always going to be a part of who we are and what we do. Death is a very sad thing, but we make it really, really sad by trying to be sad about it. He was alive and look what he produced and look what he's done. And he's still here, right. He lives in our hearts forever. You know, every time a light flickers, I know it's him because he's probably pissed that I left the lights on. Except for... garage light is always on. I imagine my kids will forever have the garage light on in their house too. It's just going to be our thing.

Katie:

This episode of Shadow Clock was created by me. Assistant editing is by Alec Jansen. Post-production audio is by Matt Sauro and Josh Kobak. Social media is managed by Alec Jansen and Kelsey Hayes. Music is credited to Pond5 and Premium Beat. Content contributors, composers and individual song titles for each episode can be found on our website at shadow-clock.com. Kate Cosgrove creates original illustrations for each episode of Shadow Clock, which you can also see at shadow-clock.com. If you like the show, you can spread the word by telling someone else about Shadow Clock, and of course, by following us on social media. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook @ShadowClockPodcast, on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ShadowClockPod, and on YouTube @ShadowClock. I personally want to express just how much it means every time you give us a click, a like, a subscribe or follow, and we love word of mouth endorsements. Your support means the world, and I can’t thank each and every one of you enough.

Speaking of thanks, a special thanks goes out to Alejandro Vélez, Adam Gould, Alec Jansen, Kate Cosgrove, Josh Kobak, Matt Sauro, Jonny Messena, Bruce Scivally, Adam Zavaslack, Austin Krieg, Forest Hills, Northern High School in Michigan, Duro Howard and Kelsey Hayes.

To Crystal Sauser, thank you so much for sharing your story with me so we all could get to know Eric. I also want to thank the Sauser kids, Amelia, Violet and Benjamin, for letting me borrow their mother for an evening so we could create this episode together. Something super cool to mention for all you podcast listeners. Crystal and her friend Allie now have their own podcast called “Hot Widows Club.” It's filled with truth, tears, laughter, grief and healing, and it's told by none other than two very hot young widows. Crystal and Allie are truly inspirational. You can find “Hot Widow’s Club Podcast” on Spotify, and we've put a link to their show on our website at shadow-clock.com. Lastly, and I swear I'm almost finished, as we are an independent out-of-pocket podcast, creating this entire first season with zero funding, we very much welcome donations. You can make a donation on our website by going to shadow-clock.com and clicking on the donation button. Even better, if you mention Eric's name in the donation memo, will donate half of your contribution to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in honor of Eric's life, and of course, we'll provide you with a tax deductible receipt once we make the donation to the foundation on your behalf. This is a great way to donate to a great cause and to our podcast all at the same time. I'm Katie Mahalic, this is Shadow Clock.

END OF EPISODE

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