Christine Tran Ferguson, the radiant spirit behind Tour de Lust, has always captivated her followers with the beauty and joy of her travels.
But now, the 37-year-old travel influencer is navigating the most heart-wrenching journey of her life, one of profound grief after the passing of her 15-month-old son, Asher.
Taking to Instagram, Christine shared cherished memories from their first family vacation when Asher was just 4 months old.
"We should be preparing our trip to Italy next week," she began, her words laden with emotion.
Her dream had been to introduce Asher to Positano, where she and her husband Ryan Ferguson exchanged their wedding vows, and to create new memories together in Tuscany. "I miss these memories, I miss you, I wanted new memories with you," she wrote.
The depth of Christine's pain is palpable as she struggles with the stark reality that has unfolded. "I never knew such pain could even exist! Our lives were perfect, normal… until it wasn’t."
It's been over a month since she and Ryan felt Asher's warmth, heard his laughter, or watched his little footsteps exploring the world.
"14 months with you was not long enough," she laments, expressing the heartache of every parent who's lost a child.
In her candid posts, Christine is unguarded, bearing the rawness of her heartbreak for all to see. When she first announced Asher's tragic passing, she described her heart as "utterly broken and shattered into a million pieces."
Her home, once brimming with Asher's energy, stands silent and still, with his room untouched. Recalling the anguish she felt last June, Christine revealed that Asher had been "fighting for his life in the ICU," and in her despair, she had sought the world's prayers.
The circumstances of Asher's birth, on the very day the couple first met nine years earlier, make this loss even more poignant.
Christine had previously shared the harrowing moments during his birth, with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, causing his heart rate to plummet.
Overwhelmed with gratitude and love after finally holding him, she once wrote: "There is no love like this."
Yet, the universe has its mysteries. And now, in her darkest hour, Christine grapples with the incomprehensible: "Nothing makes sense, I’m still in shock." She yearns for her little boy, wishing this were just a fleeting nightmare.
"Why is this happening to us, why Asher??" she questions, trying to come to terms with the harsh reality of his absence. "Every day has been torture without you, this pain is unbearable," she confesses.
For now, Christine and her husband are clinging to the cherished memories they created with Asher during their brief time together.
And while their hearts remain shattered, they take solace in the love they felt, and still feel, for their precious boy. As Christine poignantly puts it: "Mommy & Daddy can’t wait to be with you again #forever14months."