Meredith Gaudreau prepared for the first Father’s Day without her late husband, Johnny, by sharing a special video from shortly before his death.
“Father’s Day post for our guy! We miss you Daddy ❤️,” Meredith wrote via her Instagram Story on Thursday, June 12.
The message was accompanied by a video of the couple’s daughter, Noa, learning to walk. Noa, now 2, successfully made her way from Johnny’s arms into Meredith’s, who lifted her young daughter up into the air in celebration.
Meredith’s video also included a clip of Noa pointing at Johnny on TV giving an interview during his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Dada,” Noa could be heard saying with a big smile on her face.
Meredith and Johnny also shared sons Johnny, 15 months, and Carter, who was born on April 1, seven months after his dad’s death.
Johnny and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, were struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver while riding bicycles in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, on August 31, 2024, the night before their sister Katie Gaudreau’s wedding. Johnny was 31 years old, and Matthew was 29.
At the funeral service for the brothers in September 2024, Meredith announced she was pregnant with the couple’s third baby.
In an essay titled “Thank You for Being Perfect, John,” published in The Player’s Tribune on Thursday, Meredith reflected on their early days as parents together.
“Do you remember how teary-eyed you got when we had Noa?” Meredith wrote. “September 30, 2022, and she had you wrapped around her finger right away. You were inseparable from the moment you saw her. All those tears pouring down your face. You loved her so much, so fast. Your season started a few days later, and Noa never missed a single home game of yours. Not even one. She loved watching you.”
Meredith recalled the excitement Johnny felt when the couple found out their second baby would be a boy.
“Remember all the little outfits you bought him?” she wrote. “The hockey onesies and the mini-sticks and all the Blue Jackets gear? Some cheesy stuff that said ‘Eat, sleep, hockey’ on it. You loved it all. You wanted to be the best hockey dad. You were going to make sure Johnny was a great player. I just know it.”
Meredith said she feels “so lucky” to now be a mother of three and insisted she will give them “all my love and all of yours that I am capable of giving.”
“I promise you I will raise them to be the best versions of themselves,” she wrote. “They will be kind and humble and passionate and caring and all the things I loved about you. I promise. And when the time comes for me to tell them about you, they’ll know how remarkable their dad was. I already have the boys watching your highlights and Noa watches videos of you and her together every day. You were humble, you were responsible, you were hard-working.”
Meredith added, “ You were the sweetest boyfriend, the greatest husband, and the best father. You wanted everything to be about me and the kids. You would have done anything for them. I know that. And they will know it, too. I promise, John.”
