Dad was alone with his four children. You won’t believe what his friends did for him. David Brooks and Hannah Machett were everyone’s ideal of a dream couple. They had been high school sweethearts and had each been the the others only ever a relationship. After high school, the two spent some time in a long distance relationship after they were accepted into different universities, David was studying business while Hannah was doing an art degree.
The distance apart only made them stronger, and once they had finished their degrees, they made the decision to buy a small home together. It was nothing fancy, just a one bedroom home, but it was a big deal to them. It was a real step forward in their relationship.
Living together did have its little ups and downs in terms of learning each other’s quirks and learning to live with another person. But David and Hannah truly loved each other, so small things like that didn’t stop the dream of spending the rest of their lives together.
David planned a special trip away for the two to Hannah’s dream destination, Bali. Hannah had always told him about her desire to travel there one day, and he had been secretly saving for months to spoil her with this trip. He surprised Hannah by handing her the plane tickets. They were set to leave the following day. Hannah hurriedly packed her bags and the two were soon on their way.
The holiday was everything Hannah had ever dreamed of, and David thoroughly enjoyed it too. Where they lived, it was often cold and overcast, so a holiday to a sunny beach destination was well needed. They spent their days relaxing on the beach and touring the local area, and on the final day, David had one more surprise. He told Hannah to put on the outfit that he had laid out on the bed and come to meet him for dinner. Hannah was shocked when she found this spectacular black evening gown waiting for her, along with a new set of diamond earrings.
Hannah got ready. She put on her makeup and did her hair in an elegant updo and headed out to go to meet David for dinner. Waiting for her was a private table with a view of the ocean. It had been sprinkled with rose petals and the candles were wafting in the light ocean breeze. Hannah had her suspicions as to what the night had in store for her.
They were treated to an exquisite three course meal, and after they had finished dessert, David had some words for Hannah Han, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re the light of my life, and every day I spend with you only confirms more in my mind that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. He then got down on one knee and asked those four words, Will you marry me? Hannah was almost too emotional to speak, but she managed to choke the word yes. Out before jumping into David’s arms.
He then placed the most beautiful ring she had ever seen on her finger. Their fairy tale was just getting started. Hannah and David had a modest wedding plan. It was to see 50 of their friends and family gather at a beautiful outdoor venue to celebrate the couple. Hannah had unfortunately lost her mother to cancer when she was a young girl, but thankfully she got on very well with David’s mother, Debbie.
Debbie and Hannah’s two best friends helped her pick out her dream wedding dress. It was simple and elegant with full sleeves and gorgeous lace detailing with a ball gown skirt. She felt like a Princess in it. The wedding went off without a hitch and Hannah was now officially Mrs. Brooks.
The newlyweds had spoken about starting a family, but it was something they were happy to wait for a few years for. They would need to move into a bigger place as their current home didn’t have an extra bedroom for any new additions. But fate decided they were ready to increase their family and Hannah fell pregnant just a few months after their wedding. The couple was absolutely thrilled. It was even better when David’s family offered to help them secure a loan for a bigger home.
Things were a bit tight financially and this was a welcome surprise. After looking at a few options and then completing the necessary paperwork, David and Hannah were the proud owners of the bespoke three bedroom home on Mulberry Drive. Hannah’s scans revealed they would be welcoming a little girl to their family and they both knew what her name would be. Elizabeth Brooks after Hannah’s mother, who had passed away. Hannah’s pregnancy had its ups and downs, but all in all, it went well.
And eight and a half months after they had been surprised with the news, Hannah and David were on their way to the hospital to meet little Elizabeth. And then there were three. Over the years, the Brooks would add an additional three children to their family. Elizabeth was the oldest. Then came Hugo, Theresa and Archie.
They were well and truly complete now. The household was certainly a busy one, but David and Hannah were happy, truly happy. They loved each other as much as they had when they first met, and it didn’t look like they had any bad times ahead. David had a fairly successful business and Hannah was a stay at home mom. Four children were expensive, but the family was able to provide a comfortable life for them.
They had fun family traditions like Pancake Fridays, and the kids grew up with a good example of what a healthy relationship looks like. Many others would often remark to David and Hannah, how are you still so in love? But just a few days after the beautiful Elizabeth turned 13, something terrible happened. Hannah had been driving to the grocery store when she was involved in a car accident. A truck had done a Uturn across the road, which didn’t leave Hannah with enough time to break and miss it.
Her car smacked straight into the side of the truck and Hannah died on impact. A nanny had been home with the children as it was a weekend. The nanny became concerned when Hannah didn’t arrive home following her trip to town, a trip that would usually take her 2 hours. She then decided to call David. David wasn’t initially that worried what could have gone wrong?
Hannah was probably busy in a store or she had added an extra thing to her list. But two more hours would pass and Hannah still wasn’t home. Then David arrived back and tried to call Hannah for the third time. No answer. He then thought to call a few of her friends.
While doing so, he flipped on the news. That is how David Brooks learned of his wife’s passing a car matching exactly hers was said to have been involved in a fatal crash with a truck. The loss devastated David. He now had to care for his four children alone and had lost the love of his life so suddenly there’s no good way to lose someone. But if Hannah had been sick, he would have had time to say his goodbyes and process the loss.
But her passing away in a car accident was so sudden. If only he knew that morning that his life was going to change so rapidly. The next few months were tough for David and the kids. They were grieving too, and he felt as though he had to shield them from the hurt, all while he was trying to block out his feelings. If he followed himself to go to that place, he didn’t know if he would be able to come back to reality.
David began neglecting his business and hardly ever showed up. He couldn’t bring himself to be away from the home once he shared with Hannah, but being in the house constantly also didn’t help. Everywhere he looked, he saw Hannah and her things. He later told his friends that for about six months after she passed away, he genuinely thought she would just walk in the door one day and it would have all been a bad dream. With everything David had been going through, his financial situation started to worsen.
It wasn’t only because he wasn’t visiting his business often. His staff was competent and didn’t need him overseeing every little thing. But the recession was looming and then that hit. Everything changed. David was close to losing his house, which felt to him as the only piece of Hannah he had left.
He dreamt of her every night, which led him to wanting to stay sleeping while end of the day, David’s friends could see how badly he was doing and they convinced him to go and speak to a psychologist about what he was going through. You see, David was raised by quite a strict father, a man who raised his sons to keep their emotions inside. And while David had made sure to not raise his children in the same way, it was something that stuck with him right into adulthood. Hannah was the only one who was able to get him to talk about what he was feeling. So he had bottled everything up.
After she passed, David reluctantly went to the psychologist and he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. And then, to add insult to injury, David had to file for bankruptcy. In his business. Things were collapsing around him and he was getting close to being unable to carry on. He tried to keep this a secret from his friends, but they knew.
And that is when they all got together and did something incredible for David. His closest friends knew how much David and Hannah’s home meant to him and they could see how the thought of losing it was affecting him. So they got together and made a plan to pile money from their savings into paying off his remaining mortgage, which meant David could not lose his home. To surprise him with the news, they all showed up at his home with a letter describing what they had done. David was confused when the doorbell rang and it was his friends unannounced.
His best friend Jason just said, you’re going to want to read this, which David did. And he immediately had tears welling up in his eyes. He had to sit down on the porch to compose himself before standing up and embracing each of his friends one by one. You have no idea how much this means to me. He said, we do.
