America’s heart collectively broke when a woman dying of cancer penned a dating ad for her husband, hoping to help him find love again.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s New York Times essay ‘You May Want To Marry My Husband’ was read by thousands as it went viral, just 10 days before her death.
And no one was more touched than her husband Jason Rosenthal, who said he still has ‘no idea’ if he will ever fall in love or marry again.
But while his wife’s essay didn’t deliver any long-term suitors, Jason said it did bring some humor during the darkest period of his life.
Jason Rosenthal has revealed he has ‘no idea’ if he will ever fall in love or marry again as he reflects on the year after his wife Amy Krouse Rosenthal died of ovarian cancer
Amy’s New York Times essay ‘You May Want To Marry My Husband’ was read by thousands as it went viral, just 10 days before her death
Hundreds of women couldn’t help but be intrigued by the man Amy described as thoughtful, handsome, and an ‘absolutely wonderful father’ to their three children.
‘He is an easy man to fall in love with,’ she wrote. ‘I did it in one day.’
Amy’s essay functioned as a sort of personal ad for Jason. She wrote that she hoped the ‘right person’ would read the essay and ‘another love story’ would begin
‘The most genuine gift I can hope for is that the right person reads this, finds Jason, and another love story begins.’
Jason said a ‘group of women’ reached out to him and ‘professed their commitment’ after the essay was published in March 2017.
‘You have to remember that piece came out days after she died, a lot of those early months to me were foggy,’ he told Today. ‘But some of it provided a nice bit of levity and humor.’
Jason said he received messages from a number of interested women, including one who had a very specific deal breaker.
‘I will marry you when you are ready,’ the woman wrote. ‘Provided you permanently stop drinking, no other conditions. I promise to outlive you. Thank you very much.’
Jason, who shared the story during a recent TED Talk, noted that he did ‘like a good tequila’.
‘Yet, how could I say “no” to that proposal?’ he joked.
And Jason credited his late wife’s essay with giving him the permission he felt he needed to find happiness again in the months after losing her.
‘As I climbed out of the deep, deep darkness of grieving, I sort of had that little guardian angel on my shoulder when I went out and I’d find myself smiling,’ he said.
‘Because Amy gave me very public permission to also find happiness, I now have experienced joy from time to time.’
But there is despair as well, and Jason is just as frank about that as he is about the small moments of happiness he has found 15 months after Amy’s death.
Hundreds of women couldn’t help but be intrigued by the man Amy described as thoughtful, handsome, and an absolutely wonderful father’ to their three children
Jason said a ‘group of women’ reached out to him and ‘professed their commitment’ after the essay was published in March 2017
Jason said he also still clearly remembers his last few weeks with Amy, in which he needed to assist his wife with every step she took
‘My wife died of ovarian cancer in our bed,’ he said during his TED Talk.
‘I carried her lifeless body down our stairs, through our dining room and our living room to a waiting gurney to have her body cremated.’
‘I will never get that image out of my head.’
Jason said he also still clearly remembers his last few weeks with Amy, in which he needed to assist his wife with every step she took.
‘I felt so strong. I’m not such a big guy, but my arms looked and felt so big and healthy compared to Amy’s frail body,’ he recalled.
But Jason said his and Amy’s love also continued to grow stronger ‘up until her last day’.
Jason credited his late wife’s essay with giving him the permission he felt he needed to find happiness again in the months after losing her
Jason recently have a TED Talk in which he discussed his ‘journey through loss and grief’ after losing Amy last year
Now Jason is simply trying to live ‘day to day’, finding the beauty in the small things in life and in the time spent with his three children.
‘The great irony of my life is that it took losing my wife of 26 years, my best friend and mother of my three children, to truly appreciate each moment and each day,’ he said.
Following in Amy’s footsteps, Jason has written his own Modern Love essay which will be published in the New York Times in honor of Father’s Day.
He has also set up a foundation in Amy’s name to research ovarian cancer and children’s literacy initiatives.