I never thought I’d get back with ex after boozing wrecked marriage… then my son, 7, saved our family on his death bed

IT’S not unusual for a bride to cry on her wedding day. But it wasn’t my handsome groom Matt that moved me to tears as I walked down the aisle. It was a picture of my beautiful son, Adam Glenn, forever seven, smiling above the words: “Because I couldn’t be here, I’m watching you from heaven.” Mari and Matt Guthrie had divorced after both struggling with alcohol… but got re-married to honour their dying son’s wish After a trip to Disneyland, Mari and Matt discovered their son Adam Glenn had glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumour I wasn’t just pledging my life to the man I’d divorced three years earlier, I was also making Adam Glenn’s dying wish come true. I first met Matt, now 44, when I was 15. Being 6ft and 17st 12lb, I didn’t have an easy time as a teenager and I certainly didn’t get a lot of attention from boys. So, the moment Matt gave me a hug in class one day, he made a big impression. After leaving school, I had my son Kyle, raising him as a single mum. Then, four years later, in April 2010, when I was 27, Matt popped up as a Facebook friend request. We quickly went from messaging to phone calls, then he knocked on the door of my home in California. It was the first time I’d seen him since school, but within moments we were kissing. Our connection was amazing. Matt, a sheet metal machinist, and Kyle were best friends from the start. On our first Christmas Eve together, I’d just got out of the shower and was on the sofa in a towel when Matt walked in with Kyle, dropped to one knee and proposed. I couldn’t wait for us to be married. Just five months later in May 2011, we were saying our vows in Matt’s parents’ garden, celebrating with a cocktail party for 55 friends and family. Matt was my best friend, and I was sure we’d be together forever. He was an incredible father to Kyle, and we both wanted more children. Cooper was born in October 2013, and after four heartbreaking miscarriages, Adam Glenn arrived in January 2017. Our lives looked great from the outside, but Matt and I both struggled with alcohol. My drinking had begun aged 21, and it soon became the way I celebrated the highs and commiserated the lows. By 2021, I was completely dependent on it, and felt Matt was, too. It caused so much unhappiness, with neither of us taking accountability for the impact it was having, and the arguments it caused. I was so far from being the wife and mother I wanted to be. In August 2021, I finally faced up to reality and checked myself into rehab. During those 28 days, I made many difficult decisions. Matt and I loved each other deeply, but he was still drinking and he refused to accept that he needed help. Knowing I couldn’t make the changes I needed to if we were together, I filed for divorce. Matt was devastated, but we made the kids the focus of our lives. We shared custody and spoke every day. We still cared for one another, and neither of us dated other people. Adam Glenn, who was four when we separated, wanted us to reconcile from the start. He’d always smile cheekily, and say: “You love each other, why don’t you just get married again?” Matt with Kyle, Cooper and Adam Glenn Mari and Matt when they first got married I just had to smile and keep going. I knew that the best thing for all of us was to stick with the decision I’d made. Then, in February 2023, Matt decided to get help for his drinking. I was so proud, knowing how hard it was to take that step, and I found my feelings for him became harder to push away. That August, we were sitting together at his house when I realised we were holding hands. It felt wonderful. Looking at him, I said: “Do you want to be my boyfriend?” When he replied: “Yes”, we were both in tears. Despite Adam Glenn saying to Matt for years that we should get back together, we didn’t tell him or his brothers, as we wanted to protect them in case our reconciliation didn’t work out. Taking a family trip to Disneyland that October was Matt’s idea. We had an incredible time, and it felt like a fresh start. But soon after, Adam Glenn began feeling ill. An X-ray to check his bowels didn’t show anything, and the advice to let him rest didn’t help. In the following weeks it was so worrying to see our lively, chatty boy lethargic and quiet. Then in mid-December, I noticed his head tilting strangely to the right. We were at the doctor’s office when his left eye suddenly rolled back in his head, and we were immediately rushed to hospital. After a raft of tests, we were told the devastating news that Adam Glenn had glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumour. Through this nightmare, Matt didn’t leave my side. Doctors explained the tumour had grown outside of Adam Glenn’s skull, and we watched in desperate hope as he went through a round of radiation treatment. Adam Glenn turned seven on January 25, 2024, and his parents held him as he took his last breath 10 days later Mari says being married again is like coming home to her best friend Every day our precious boy became weaker and quieter. When we were told that Adam Glenn’s cancer was just too aggressive for further treatment, I was heartbroken. But Matt was my rock. In the middle of January, the three of us lay together in bed. Adam Glenn, who was now struggling to walk or speak, suddenly said: “You guys should just get married.” I looked over at Matt, who smiled back and said: “Yes we should.” But we didn’t want to be away from our little boy for even the half-day a courthouse wedding would need. Instead, we went for a short drive and returned to tell Adam Glenn it was done. He was so happy. Adam Glenn turned seven on January 25, 2024, and we held him as he took his last breath 10 days later. It was constant, painful, heartbreaking grief for us all. Some days, Matt and I would find ourselves screaming by the river, because that was the only thing that felt like it would ease the pain. Other days, we wouldn’t cry until the evening, when we’d sob for the little boy we couldn’t put to bed. That October, Matt and I said our vows for a second time in a local park, under beautiful sequoia trees, in front of 150 friends and family. After the ceremony, a butterfly landed beside me, and I knew it was Adam Glenn’s spirit. “You did this, you saved us,” I said. Losing Adam Glenn inspired me to launch a non-profit organisation to support children and families navigating grief and serious illness. It’s been healing to find purpose in the pain. As for Matt and me, being married again is like coming home to my best friend. Adam Glenn’s dying wish brought us here, and by loving each other, we honour him every day. Visit Theglennasafeplace.com.