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Amanda Kloots is showing off her redesigned engagement ring — and reminding mourners that there’s no timeline to grief — following her late husband Nick Cordero’s 2020 death.
“You don’t have to stop wearing your engagement ring just because you took it off and years have gone by,” Kloots, 44, said in a video shared via Instagram on Friday, September 4, before showing off the customized ring. “Guys, I took my engagement ring off after, like, about a year and it was sitting in my jewelry box collecting dust until one day I was just like, ‘I want to wear my ring again.’”
She continued, “I contacted the jeweler, Stephanie Gottlieb, and we co-created a new design for my engagement ring into a ring that I can wear every single day. You can, at any time, take this piece of jewelry and recreate it into something that is still so meaningful.”
Cordero died in July 2020 from complications related to COVID-19. Months prior, Cordero was admitted into Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and diagnosed with pneumonia before testing positive for coronavirus at the height of the pandemic. He spent over 90 days in the hospital before his death. He was 41.
The pair, who shared son Elvis, were married for two years prior to his death.
“My diamond was a heart-shaped diamond, we put it in a bigger heart — my heart is always in his — and it’s a ring now that I wear on this finger all the time,” Kloots continued of her redesigned engagement ring on Friday. “And it’s so special, still so special, and I love it so much.”
Kloots’ candid video was accompanied by a substantial caption, encouraging those who are healing from a loss to take their time and decide what is best for them instead of attempting to adhere to someone else’s journey.
“After celebrating my wedding anniversary yesterday, it got me thinking that I should reshare what I decided to do with my engagement ring,” she captioned the post. “These questions after loss can sometimes be the hardest to answer. How long do I wear my ring? When should I take it off? Can I keep wearing it? What should I do with it now?”
She continued, “The short answer is: YOU DO YOU! There are no rules when it comes to grief, and you need to do whatever feels right and makes YOU happy. Four years after loss, I decided to redesign my engagement ring into something I could wear and love every day instead of keeping it tucked away in a box. I am SO glad I made this decision.”
In July, Kloots marked six years since her late husband’s untimely death.
“Today marks six years since Nick passed away,” she wrote via Instagram on July 5. “If you knew him, you were lucky. If you didn’t and you’ve been following me, hopefully you have an idea of what a magnificent human being he was. Everyone loved him. He loved everyone. He truly lived life to the fullest, although it was cut short at just 41 years old. His face graced stages and screens, and his voice could be shrill like rock and roll or smooth like Frank Sinatra. He taught me to slow down. To listen to music. To be curious. To believe in myself.”
She added at the time, “I know it might seem weird to say, but even though he is gone from this earth, I almost feel more connected to him spiritually now. It has made me believe that we don’t have to say goodbye. We don’t have to stop talking to the people we love. We don’t have to close the chapter. It may look different, yes, but I feel closer to him now, six years after his death. He sends me signs almost daily. I ask him for them, he responds and I talk right back! Nick was always up in your business if you were his good friend or family, so it does make sense that he’s still up in mine.”
