All The Ways Amanda Kloots Has Honored Late Husband, Nick Cordero Since His Death

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of so many people in ways they'd never considered before. For Amanda Kloots, it turned her entire world upside down. The 39-year-old mom and fitness enthusiast was enjoying life with her husband, actor Nick Cordero, and their infant son, Elvis. What started as Cordero feeling under the weather quickly blossomed into something else. In the early days of the pandemic, he entered the hospital.

Sadly, he never left. After a months-long battle with the virus, which included the amputation of one of his legs, Cordero died on July 5, 2020 at 41-years-old (per Us Weekly). While Kloots was very clearly heartbroken, she was also a picture of grace and strength. Kloots documented Cordero's illness and kept fans updated on his day-to-day progress. Even in losing him, she looked for ways to share her situation with the world and provide comfort and perspective.

Just as she was by his side in the days when Cordero had the coronavirus, Kloots has done everything in her power to honor him since his heartbreaking death.

Just a month before Nick Cordero contracted COVID-19, he and Amanda Kloots became homeowners for the first time. Sadly, Cordero would never come to live in the home that he picked out for his family.

Kloots shared the bittersweet feeling of moving into the home after Cordero's death by sharing an Instagram photo of them and Elvis in the home the first day they got the keys. "I remember taking this picture, documenting the 'before' so we could show the progress each month," she wrote. "We move into our new home today and I thought I'd be terrified but it's oddly been comforting. Isn't that funny how the things you get yourself so worried about emotionally sometimes aren't that bad in the end?"

Fans shared messages of support for Kloots and Elvis as they embark on the next stage of their lives. "I know he is there watching over you — with you both," one fan commented on her Instagram post. "Nick will always take care of you and Elvis," another wrote. And plenty of fans left heart emojis.

Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero tied the knot on September 3, 2017. Their 2020 anniversary was the first after Cordero's death. In his honor, Kloots completed a song that Cordero had only partially written and recorded, creating their first-ever duet.

"The other night I sang a duet for the first time with Nick. He had previously recorded a beginning of a song he titled, 'Not Far Away.' I decided to write the other half to finish the lyrics and got to sing a song with Nick for THE FIRST TIME EVER!" she shared on Instagram. "I decided then to release this song on our anniversary as the 'something special' I've been trying to figure out. The something that will help me get through the day a little easier. To start the day celebrating him, his music, our love."

"What a special tribute," one fan commented on Kloots' Instagram post. Even after her husband's death, it's clear he's still a part of her life.

Two months after Nick Cordero's death, Amanda Kloots felt prepared to share her story with the world. She turned to her sister, author Anna Kloots, to help her write "Live Your Life: My Story Of Loving And Losing Nick Cordero" (per the Los Angeles Times). In the book, Kloots shared her love story and the painful journey from realizing Cordero was sick to his death after 95 days in the hospital.

Kloots details that part of honoring her life with Cordero was honoring his wishes. She admitted that Cordero's health reached a point where doctors leveled with her that they were keeping him alive for his loved ones and that he would not recover.

"He was not Nick anymore. There had been a time that he was. For a long time, he was there, and you could tell that he was fighting. But in these last couple of weeks, that had slowly changed," Kloots wrote (via Entertainment Tonight). "He was going, and I saw it that day. There wasn't anything left of him ... If he survived, the best-case scenario was that Nick would be on a ventilator for the rest of his life, a life he didn't want. But we knew he would not survive."

One of the points of heartbreak for Amanda Kloots is knowing her son, 2-year-old Elvis Cordero, will not remember his short time with his dad. That's why she's gone above and beyond in making sure Nick's presence is incorporated in everything they do as a family.

"I tell him so much. I am just so persistent [about] keeping him aware that his dada is around. We listen to Nick's music all the time. As soon as I put on 'Live Your Life,' he starts banging his head like he's in a rock band. It's the cutest thing," Kloots told Entertainment Tonight in June. "We have pictures of Nick everywhere. He kisses this one every night before we go to bed. Before I put him in his crib, I tell him [about] the dreams that he's going to have and they always entail Nick taking him on some sort of adventure."

"We talk about Nick all the time," Kloots added. "It's hard to say ... what he knows or what he thinks, but I do think that he knows that Dada is somewhere. I think that Nick comes and visits him and spends time with him. I really do." While most of her son's life will be spent without his dad, it's clear Kloots will make sure Cordero is always close to his son's heart.

As Broadway reopened, Amanda Kloots wasn't the only one looking to honor Nick Cordero. The cast of "Waitress," a show Cordero was in the original run of, wanted to honor him and invited Kloots to take part.

"You are amazing. You have walked through this terrible time with so much grace and so much wisdom and so much vulnerability and that is a gift to every single person who can receive it from you," Sara Bareilles told Kloots before the company joined them on stage (via Broadway.com). There, they performed Cordero's signature song, "Live Your Life."

"After the most magical performance of @waitressmusical @sarabareilles made a small speech about Nick and brought me out onstage to celebrate the new Live Your Life pie and then we all sang Nicks song onstage at the Barrymore Theater!! It was just spectacular!" Kloots wrote on Instagram.

Amanda Kloots will continue to honor Nick Cordero by marking the special moments in their lives together. September offered her two such occasions to do that. The first was on September 3, when she marked what would have been the couple's fourth wedding anniversary.

"Hey baby! Happy 4th wedding anniversary to us! Our wedding was one of the best days of my life and I'll never ever forget it," she wrote on Instagram. "I'll never forget our first look, our first kiss as husband and wife and our first dance. You'll always be my husband, my angel now, but always the love of my life. Here's to us."

The second occasion was Cordero's birthday. "Happy 43rd birthday to you Nick. It's really hard to not think about what we would be doing today to celebrate you. I'd probably take you for a really nice steak dinner and have some red velvet cake for dessert with Elvis! I hope you are up in heaven having a big party with your Dad and because I'm wishing the best for you, Prince," Amanda shared. "I'm hoping you're singing with Prince today!!! Elvis and I will be missing you today as we sing to you from Earth."