Sarah and Chris Tallman married a year ago in a beautiful beachfront wedding, and Sarah started making plans for a life together.

She expected that by now they would be settled in their Victorian house in San Francisco, Chris working as a private client adviser for Bank of America and writing music on the side, Sarah in sales at Bausch & Lomb and pregnant.

Then five months after their wedding, Chris died in an accident. Sarah, who is 35, tried to live in San Francisco without him, but it hurt too much. She moved back home to Charlotte three weeks ago with only one plan: Keep Chris' memory alive by keeping his music alive.

Chris was a funny guy. Smart. Sarah liked that he donated both his time and money to charities. He was good-looking, too, with eyes nearly as blue as hers. They met six years ago on a blind date in San Francisco, where Sarah had moved after graduating from UNC Charlotte. After dating three years, they got an apartment together. Sarah said she gave him an ultimatum: When the lease is up, we're getting engaged or breaking up.

When the lease ended, so did their relationship. Chris wasn't ready to make a commitment so Sarah took their white golden retriever, Jackson, and moved out. For six sad months, they stayed apart.

A love song Chris wrote helped woo Sarah back. He called it “Believe.”

“And I'll be the one,” he sang.

“Who holds you up when all is gone

“Let this time ease the pain

“And bring you back to me again…. Someday.”

They married a year ago Saturday, on Nov. 15, 2007, but delayed their honeymoon until May so they could settle into their new house and Sarah into a new job. Five weeks before they were supposed to go, Chris joined his best man on a shark-viewing expedition off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa.

“I spoke with him the night before the dive,” Sarah said. “He promised to call me when it was finished.”

Chris never called. Sarah's annoyance quickly turned to worry. She searched the Internet and discovered a wave had capsized a shark-diving boat off of Africa. Three people drowned, including two Americans.

She was home alone when she found out Chris had died. She screamed so loud neighbors rushed to the house, afraid she was being attacked.

She woke up every morning for weeks, believing it wasn't true. They were supposed to be going on their honeymoon.

When Chris' ashes were sent back to Sarah, inside the box was his wedding band.

Heartache and keepsakes

Sarah tried different ways to ease her heartache. She designed a pendant, which she wears around her neck, made from their wedding bands and some of his ashes. She made a pendant for Chris' mother, and one for their dog.

She framed postcards Chris had bought in Africa.

She submitted his songs to music contests.

She tried to return to work with Bausch & Lomb in San Francisco, but couldn't. She felt adrift in a city full of memories that haunted her wherever she turned. And so last month, she drove cross-country to Charlotte and is staying with her parents, Jean-Noel and Judy Cozon.

Two days after she arrived, Sarah heard from the Independent Singer-Songwriter Association. “Believe” had won the 2008 Lyrics of the Year award. The judges picked the song without knowing Chris was dead. They picked it without knowing he wrote the song for Sarah, to win her back, and that he did win her back, that they married and that five months later he died, but not his music.

“I see you in the corner of a lonely room,” he sings.

“Your eyes betray your smile

“And I need you to believe, tonight

“And I'll be the one

“Who holds you up when all is gone

“Let this time ease the pain

“And bring you back to me again…. Someday.”

Message in the music

The meaning of the song changed for Sarah after Chris' death. The first time she heard the lyrics, she thought Chris was telling her he was ready to make a lifetime commitment, to marry her. Now, she feels he's promising to watch over her. As hard as it sometimes is to hear his voice, hearing his voice is what sustains her.

“There are times when I burst out crying,” she said. “There are times when I hear it and it's what I need. It comforts me.”

Sarah's days are consumed with promoting Chris' music. Some people tell her she needs to live her own life. For now, she said, this is her life.

“I am completely happy doing this for my husband. I just want to get his music out there because that's what he wanted more than anything.”

Is he good, she wonders. Is the award a big deal? “Or is it just me thinking that, because I lost my husband? I know it's totally crazy,” she said. “But the best way to honor him is to continue his dream.”

Chris performed under the stage name Matthew Chase, and released his first CD, “Tomorrow,” in 2003. “Remember Why” came out in 2006 and “Everything,” which includes “Believe,” came out the week before their wedding. Sarah hopes to compile a fourth CD, “Everything and After.”

Chris is dead, but she believes Matthew Chase and his music don't have to die with him.