The widow of late hockey player Johnny Gaudreau has spoken out for the first time since his death in a bicycle accident.

On Saturday, August 31, Meredith Gaudreau released a statement about her husband’s death, posting two posts on Instagram in which she honored him as a husband and father.

“Thank you for the best years of my life. Even though I lost you, I’m still the luckiest girl in the world to have had you. I love you so much,” she began the caption of the first post.

Meredith continued, adding, “You were perfect. Sometimes it felt too good to be true. I love everything about you. You are mine forever and I can’t wait to be with you again. I love you so much, always and forever.”

In addition to her emotional tribute to her husband, she posted a series of photos, starting with a picture of herself and Johnny with their two children, followed by sweet moments from the couple’s time together.

In a second post, Meredith honored Johnny as a father, describing him as the “best partner” to share parenting with and saying he was the “best” at putting their son to bed and was the “apple of their daughter’s eye.”

“The best dad in the world. So caring and loving. The best partner to parent with. John never missed an appointment,” she wrote, adding, “Was the best at putting the baby to sleep and the apple of Noa’s eye. I love how much she looks like him. We are going to make you proud. We love you so much, Daddy.”

Her second tribute to her husband also included a number of photos of Johnny with the couple’s children – they have daughter Noa, who turns 2 in October, and son Johnny, 7 months – over the years, including from outings and watching him play hockey.

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On Aug. 29, the NHL star, 31, and his brother Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were killed in a bicycle accident in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, near their hometown of Salem County, PEOPLE confirmed. They were reportedly in their hometown to act as groomsmen at their sister Katie Gaudreau’s Aug. 30 wedding, the wedding website reported.

Johnny and Matthew were riding their bikes on Country Route 551 North just after 8 p.m. when a driver believed to be under the influence of alcohol attempted to pass another car and fatally struck the brothers, New Jersey State Police said in a statement provided to PEOPLE at the time.

The driver, Sean M. Higgins, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and arrested. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

The affidavit revealed the suspect was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, behind a sedan and an SUV.

“Higgins attempted to pass the slower moving sedan and SUV, entered the southbound lane, passed the slower moving sedan, and attempted to return to the northbound lane. At that point, the SUV became centered in front of Higgins, separating the northbound and southbound lanes and allowing him to safely pass the two bicyclists traveling north on the right side of the roadway,” police said.

“Higgins then attempted to pass the SUV on the right and struck the two bicyclists from behind. As a result of the collision, the two bicyclists sustained fatal injuries,” the statement said.