(CNN) Amanda Kloots and the family of late Broadway star Nick Cordero held a small, private memorial service over the weekend, with Kloots calling it "beautiful and perfect."
"We had a small memorial yesterday with close family and friends. I said, 'Nick would have wanted this to be a celebration. Let's try to laugh, share great stories and sing for him and to his memory.' He would have loved it. It was beautiful and perfect. His spirit was definitely there," Kloots wrote on Instagram.
She continued: "We listened to the song, I'm Here, from The Color Purple. Nick and I saw this show on Broadway years ago and we left the theater in tears, speechless. As it was being played last night the lyrics in the second half of the song hit me hard. Truly, I am scared. Scared of my new normal, of the pain, the loss and being strong enough to get through it. ... So, when I heard these lyrics yesterday I thought, 'Ok. When I'm doubting if I can get through this, I'm playing this song. It will be my motto.'"
Cordero, who starred in "Waitress," "A Bronx Tale," and "Rock of Ages," passed away at the age of 41 on July 5 after being hospitalized for coronavirus. Kloots and Cordero share a son, Elvis, who was born in June 2019.
Kloots said she knows, "Nick is up above routing for me, believing in me and hoping for me. He wants me to LIVE this new life and he wants me to be the best version of myself for our son.
"I promised him in the hospital that I would try to do that," she said.