The past nine days have been the toughest of my life.

For those who may not already know, I lost my wife Carol, who I had been married to for the past 27 years.

I met her while she was helping her mother Sharon work at a Babe Ruth Tournament in Dowagiac.

She was in a back brace, and I was there covering the tournament for the paper. We struck up a conversation, and over the course of the day, I asked her out.

We actually got engaged in Louisville, Kentucky, as I was there covering the Dowagiac All-Stars playing in the Ohio Valley Regional and she was there again, helping her mother who was a Babe Ruth commissioner at the time.

We married Dec. 8, 1990.

We both knew we could not get married in November because Dowagiac was on its way to a state championship in football the previous weekend, and I always wanted a December wedding because of my love for Christmas.

Sports has always been a huge part of our lives, mainly because of my job, but also Carol’s desire to do whatever she could do to help me, while at the same time spent time together.

I always admired how she understood that my passion for my job would take me away from home most nights of the week and plenty of weekends.

I am sure she did not always like it.

Like every marriage that lasts as long as ours, there were highs and lows, but more highs for sure than lows.

Our greatest accomplishment together, of course, was the birth of our daughter Kirsten on Nov. 29, 1993.

We had no idea what the challenges of raising Kirsten would be. Not because she was trouble, but first she was diagnosed with seizure disorder and then Lupus.

She has been our pride and joy throughout it all. We were amazed with how she handled those difficult situations that basically robbed her of a normal childhood.

Being married to Carol for the past 27 years was the best thing that could have happened to me.

She has been my rock. She has taught me so many things.

I have always admired her passion. When you got Carol involved in something, you pretty much just had to stand back and let her do her thing.

The Dowagiac Fine Arts Boosters would not be where they are today without her.

She took the same passion to the United Methodist Church. She may have been tough to deal with at times being of singular focus as she is, but when push came to shove, she got things done.

I will miss her dearly.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.