MY WIFE WHISPERED, "I LOVE YOU, SEE YOU LATER." LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, SHE WAS ATTACKED AND MURDERED.
- Michael Ross
- May 20
- 4 min read
By Michael Ross — author of the award-winning true story Just Five More Minutes
ORDINARY MOMENTS
There are moments in life that seem completely ordinary at the time.
Moments so small, so natural, so everyday, that you barely notice them happening.
And yet later, they become frozen in your memory forever.
One sunny Sunday morning, my wife decided to take our dog Rosie for a power walk. It was one of those calm, peaceful mornings where life felt safe and familiar. Our two young boys were still small — only four and six years old — and the world, despite all its ordinary struggles, still felt whole.
Before she left, she leaned down, lightly kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and whispered:
“I love you. See you later.”
Those were the last words she ever spoke to me.
THE PHONE CALL
Less than an hour later, everything changed.
The woman I loved had been attacked and murdered.
Even now, writing those words feels surreal.
People often imagine tragedy arrives with warning signs or dramatic music, but real life is not like that. One moment, you are living your normal life, thinking about what to make for dinner or what the children will do later that afternoon. The next moment, your entire world has collapsed into disbelief, confusion, fear, and unbearable grief.
Nothing prepares you for that phone call.
Nothing prepares you for standing in shock while your mind refuses to accept what it is hearing.
And nothing prepares you for trying to explain the impossible to two small boys who cannot fully understand why their mother is never coming home again.
TWO YOUNG SONS LEFT BEHIND
That was perhaps the hardest part of all.
Not the media attention.
Not the police investigation.
Not even the year-long murder trial that followed.
It was looking into the eyes of my sons and realising that their childhood had changed forever in a single morning.
In the months that followed, life became a blur of grief, survival, exhaustion, and emotional numbness. There were moments where simply getting through the day felt impossible. Yet somehow, as parents often do, you continue because your children need you to continue.
THE MURDER TRIAL
The murder trial lasted over a year.
A year of revisiting trauma repeatedly.
A year of statements, evidence, courtrooms, and emotional strain.
A year of trying to remain strong for my boys while privately struggling to understand how such violence could suddenly invade an ordinary family life.
People often ask how someone survives something like that.
The truth is, at first, you do not survive it well.
You stumble through it.
You endure it minute by minute.
Sometimes hour by hour.
There are days when grief feels physical. Days when the silence inside a home becomes overwhelming. Days where memories become both comforting and painful at the same time.
REBUILDING A LIFE
But over time, something slowly begins to change.
Not the loss. That never disappears.
But your relationship with it changes.
You begin to understand that healing does not mean forgetting. It does not mean “moving on” in the simplistic way people often describe it. It means learning how to carry pain while continuing to live, love, work, parent, and hope.
That became one of the central reasons for writing Just Five More Minutes.
Finding Meaning Again
The book is not only about tragedy.
It is also about survival.
It is about rebuilding life after unimaginable loss. It is about raising two young boys through grief and uncertainty. It is about discovering that even after the darkest experiences imaginable, human beings still possess an extraordinary ability to endure, adapt, and eventually find meaning again.
That is why the second half of the book carries a much more hopeful and positive message.
Over the years, many people facing their own struggles — grief, trauma, anxiety, depression, loss, and major life challenges — have reached out to tell me that the story helped them in ways they never expected.
Not because it offers easy answers.
But because it reminds people that they are not alone.
Sometimes knowing another human being survived the unimaginable helps us believe that perhaps we can survive our own battles, too.
Just Five More Minutes later went on to win recognition at the International Audiobook Awards, bringing the story to an even wider audience through its audiobook edition.
PODCAST AND DOCUMENTARY DEVELOPMENTS
In recent years, the story has continued reaching new audiences through podcast appearances, media coverage, and ongoing documentary discussions. I appeared on the landmark 500th special edition of the UK True Crime podcast, where the case and its aftermath were explored in depth.
At the same time, discussions surrounding a major documentary adaptation are currently ongoing.
Readers who would like to learn more about Just Five More Minutes, my writing, and current projects can visit:
FINAL THOUGHTS
Beyond the media attention, podcasts, and possible screen adaptations, the heart of Just Five More Minutes remains deeply personal.
It is the story of one ordinary family whose lives changed one Sunday morning forever.
And it is a reminder that life can alter in a heartbeat.
Which is why the people we love should never be taken for granted.
Because sometimes, without knowing it, a simple goodbye becomes the final one.
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