On her birthday, Heidi Powell reflects on the loss of Dave Hollis: ‘Man, do I miss this guy’

Fitness trainer Heidi Powell continues to mourn the loss of Dave Hollis, who died Feb. 11 at age 47.

Powell marked her 41st birthday with a family photo at the beach, as well as a screenshot of the birthday tribute Hollis wrote for her last year.

"41 trips around the sun, and boy do I cherish this last one the most," she wrote on Instagram. "I’d relive every painful lesson over the last 365 again if it meant getting to experience even just this sweet moment… with exactly these people… once more."

The photo shows Powell, her four children and Hollis wearing Hawaiian leis and shell necklaces at sunset.

"Man, do I miss this guy. Especially over this last week… where I’m reminded by his absence —in rooms where he previously stood proudly by my side— of his unique ability to make me feel limitless and powerful," Powell continued her post. "With him, I had buckets of courage to pursue my purpose through his unwavering belief in my potential."

She added that she had hoped not to share her pain on Instagram but that we're all just "doing our best."

"I’m sitting here in both sadness and gratitude for what was… full of learnings and hope for what will be," she concluded. "Forward is hard and forward is beautiful. Forward is exactly what it’s supposed to be. Cheers to my next (and best yet) trip around the sun."

Powell and Dave Hollis began dating after he and his ex-wife, Rachel Hollis, divorced in 2020. It's unclear what their relationship status was at the time of his death. However Powell, ended her caption with a postscript that seemingly alluded to a split:

"Ps. Loving someone isn’t contingent on relationship status or struggles endured. Not for me, at least. For me, love is unconditional and transcendent... and can (and does) exist with and beyond hardship, even as the foundation of healthy boundaries," she wrote. "Love belongs to and is deserved by everyone. Always. No exceptions."

It's unclear what caused Hollis' death, though a family representative confirmed to TODAY.com that he had been recently hospitalized for heart-related health issues, and that he died at home in Austin, Texas. He would have turned 48 on Feb. 14.

Powell's post on March 28 was not the first time she's spoken out about his death. She's issued several tributes on social media in his honor.

"This isn’t the way it was supposed to end," she wrote on Feb. 14. "I’m heartbroken and totally devastated. I’m sick. My kids miss you so much. Our world is rocked. I will never be the same. I’m not sure how forward looks without a piece of your love. The best love I’ve ever been given. Other-worldly kind of love. I cannot believe this is real."

Hollis is survived by his four children — Jackson, Sawyer, Ford and Noah — whom he shares with his ex-wife Rachel Hollis of "Girl, Wash Your Face" fame.

Rachel Hollis — who was married to Dave Hollis from 2004 to 2020 — said in an episode of her titular podcast on Feb. 27 that she and her children are in a space of "deep grief."

"There are all sorts of stages and the kids and I go through all of those all day long over and over," she said. "We’re riding waves."

"We’re sad, we’re angry, we’re confused and we’re all the feelings," she said at the time. "But we’re very strong. We’re very close. We’re a very tight group. And it’s gonna take some time but we are going to be OK."

She added that they have no choice but to move forward.

"We’re gonna figure out what life looks like now."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com