GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WUSA9) -- Almost one year ago, a small private jet crashed into a Montgomery County home, killing a mom, a newborn baby boy and a toddler son.
It's been a devastating year for Ken Gemmell and his eight-year-old daughter, who lost everything and everyone but each other. Now, Gemmell is trying to rebuild his life with the one person keeping his hopes alive. These days, he says he's thankful for what he does have.
"The one main thing is I still have my daughter with me. We get to spend time and I get to see her grow up," Gemmell told WUSA9.
His daughter Arabelle was at school the morning of December 8, 2014. He was at work.
That's when a plane trying to land at Montgomery County Airpark crashed right beside his home. The plane's wing flew directly into his house, setting off a series of explosions and killing his wife Marie, seven-week-old baby boy Devin and three-year-old son Cole.
"Hardest days are just usually, it's usually some kind of moment that just triggers. It could just be seeing a mom and a young boy walking by somewhere."
Birthdays have also been tough.
Marie, Devin and Cole shared their birthdays one day apart at the end of October. When baby Devin was born, Marie looked forward to celebrating all of their birthdays together.
"It was definitely a tough day just because all three of them fall in line with each other...but we made it through."
He also made it through an agonizing decision to rebuild his home to sell it, and in doing so, start rebuilding his life.
Asked if his daughter has been back to the home, Gemmell said "I drove her by once...Just like we were saying early on, how do you explain this to a kid? It was more to actually let her see with her own eyes so she could believe it because one of the things was I really don't believe it happened."
Arabelle, 8, has become a remarkable source of strength for her dad.
"She's doing great in school so it's the most I can ask for right now."
Gemmell left his 40 hour a week job to spend more time with her and bought a home cleaning service. With all the challenges they've shared this year, they've always had each other, traveling the world and making their bond between father and daughter that much stronger.
"We've been to Denver. We've been to London. We went to the One Direction concert, also went to a bunch of museums up to Baltimore for the weekend. We've done a lot together, me and her…we're a lot closer now."
"I think she (wife) would be happy and proud of both of us for adjusting the way we have."
Ken still sees beautiful reminders of the past. A video of his boy looking out the sliding glass door is one of his favorites.
"I am just mowing the lawn in the back yard and I guess I am going by every once and a while and he's just tapping on the window."
Facebook users captured all of Marie's posts and made four volumes of everything for Ken Gemmell and his daughter.
"Kind of getting to relive some of the happy moments because that is really all I have left...I have to hold on to something with them."
And as he turns the page to start a new chapter in his life, he knows the memories will last a lifetime.
