Amy Yasbeck is the widow of actor John Ritter. In a powerful memoir, “With Love and Laughter, John Ritter”, Amy recalls her husband’s memories and talks about being temporarily ‘paralyzed’ by the shock and fear that followed his death.

Amy Yasbeck lived a happy married life with actor John Ritter with an adorable daughter

On their first meeting, John had pressurized Amy to eat cream cheese and bagel because she looked very thin to him. Sparks flew immediately after. Amy first starred with John in the Problem Child. Later, the couple starred together in “Problem Child 2” and an episode of “The Cosby Show”.

Amy and John got married in September 1999. Despite both being in the entertainment industry, which evidently demands a huge time commitment and personal life sacrifices, the couple were loyal to each other.

Amy lived a perfectly happy life with John and their only daughter- Stella Ritter. The couple was passionately supportive of each other. Amy recalls “John and I had an understanding that he was going to be holding my hand for the next twelve or so years when it came to anything school-related [for Stella].”

Amy Yasbeck’s perfect marriage and family life came to a nasty end when her husband died of undiagnosed aortic dissection

On September 11, 2003, Ritter fell unconscious and was taken to a hospital, where he died hours later. Although his doctors had thought he had a heart attack, it was later confirmed that he had died of an undiagnosed aortic dissection. Amy even filed a wrongful death suit for misdiagnosis of John’s medical condition against the hospital and the doctors.

In her memoir, Amy writes “At night, all hell would break loose inside my head. And my heart would break over and over and over.” She further added: “But in the morning, after the initial slap in the face that every new awakening would bring, I would drift into survival mode.”

John’s sudden death was hard for their daughter. Stella, Amy’s daughter, never got a chance to say goodbye. Making it harsher, John had died on the child’s fifth birthday!

Amy Yasbeck hopes to inspire all those that have had to lose a loved one through her memoir

In 2010, Amy published her book/ memoir- “With Love and Laughter, John Ritter”. She talks about thesadness of the loss, her attempts to stand back up and the strength it required.

She remembers: “The only way I could take a step or a breath, much less go about the business of living, was to cling to the closest recognizable feeling I could handle.”

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A photo posted by @truman_alder_mcfarland_walker on

It has been more than a decade since the death of John Ritter. Amy Yasbeck has continued to give her best in her professional life after the tragedy.