After a dying woman’s extraordinary love letter was read and shared by millions of people around the world, her husband shared his own small tribute to her and their heartbreaking story.
In an op-ed published in the New York Times Friday, Amy Krouse Rosenthal wrote that her battle with ovarian cancer left her with just days to live – and only a few cherished moments with her beloved husband Jason.
“I have been married to the most extraordinary man for 26 years,” she wrote. “I was planning on at least another 26 together.”
Titled “You May Want to Marry My Husband,” her letter was both a tale of their love and a plea to whoever may someday fill the void she’ll leave behind.
“I have never been on Tinder, Bumble or eHarmony, but I’m going to create a general profile for Jason right here, based on my experience of coexisting in the same house with him for, like, 9,490 days,” she wrote. “First, the basics: He is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, with salt-and-pepper hair and hazel eyes.”
She goes on to say that Jason is a “sharp dresser,” “uncannily handy,” a good cook, a music lover, a painter, a traveler and more.
An accomplished author of 28 children’s books and two memoirs, Amy struck a chord with countless readers – but to her family and friends, the candid, emotional letter came as no surprise.
U.S. & World
“Amy has a great gift for making us understand that life’s seemingly small moments are really not so small,” her friend and book agent Amy Rennery told the “Today Show.”
Amy has always enjoyed connecting with strangers, loved ones say. In 2008, she united hundreds of strangers at the Bean in her hometown of Chicago for a gathering that served as part of the project she called “The Beckoning of Lovely.”
She created a film of all the participants joining to “make a bunch of stuff together,” as she told the crowd. Her project was described as “an interactive love letter to the universe… rooted in human connection,” years before her latest piece received similar accolades. [[415522753, C]]
Amy’s op-ed details the reasons and ways she fell in love with Jason, who she said showed up to their first pregnancy ultrasound with flowers, but it appears that there was at least one more gesture that didn’t make it to print.
“The day that Amy was finishing her modern love essay, Jason left music sheets all over the house and he put notes on each of those love songs,” Rennery told ‘Today.’
Jason, who she described as “an easy man to fall in love with. I did it in one day,” issued a statement to NBC News as their journey nears its end.
“It is Amy’s gift with words that has drawn the universe in,” he said. “Unfortunately I do not have the same aptitude for the written word, but if I did, I can assure you that my tale would be about the most epic love story… ours.”
According to "Today," Amy was in hospice on Monday, surrounded by family members who asked for privacy during this difficult time.
