Mariana (Mari) Kuhlman, the young widow who learned she was pregnant after her husband tragically died on their honeymoon, has announced the birth of their son.
“Raphael Patrick, my heart is exploding with joy at the fact that you have arrived! No words can express how much I love you already,” Mari wrote on Instagram. “With your dada we always told each other how each and every day our love for each other GROWS every day. and it’s already the same with you, by the minute my heart GROWS more and more in love with you! Raphael, welcome to this side of the veil, I cannot wait for this life we have together, as we live our lives striving for heaven to be one with the Father and getting to unite once again with your father, Nathaniel!”
Mari and her husband Nathaniel (Nate) met while they were students at Franciscan University in October 2021, and were married on October 28, 2023. Just three days later, on their honeymoon in St. Lucia, Nate fell and drowned while waterskiing — an activity with which he was very familiar. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Mari prayed the Lazarus Prayer and it crossed her mind that God might answer her prayer in a different way — through pregnancy.
A few weeks later, on Thanksgiving Day, Mari was “so shocked and so happy” to learn she was indeed pregnant, despite the fact that her cycle tracking had not indicated a likelihood of ovulation on their honeymoon.
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Her due date was July 17, and baby Raphael arrived on July 18. In her birth announcement, she wrote to her late husband, “Nate, our son is here! I cannot believe it, thank you for carrying me through one of the hardest days of my life! but the reward of holding our son in my arms was obviously so worth it! I know you’ll be praying for him, for us each and every day, and he will know without a doubt how much his father loves him! We’ll feel your love in the sunshine, in the rain, in the breeze and the butterflies we see.”
Mari also thanked God for “the gift of Raphael Patrick, who has healed my heart from the moment that I found out I was pregnant!” She added, “Through our story may we continue to bring others close to your heart in a new way!”
