Jason Rosenthal became famous for an excruciating reason. His wife, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, was a writer. Before she died of cancer at the age of 51, she penned a gorgeous and heartfelt love letter to him. The letter was published in the New York Times and soon went viral, being read by millions.
It was widely circulated for a good reason — the perspective was one no one had ever really heard before. In the essay, called “You May Want To Marry My Husband,” Amy spoke about what a wonderful person Jason was. She wrote that she had been with him for 26 years and had planned to be with him for another 26. Due to her illness, she knew that wouldn’t happen, but she wanted him to find love again.
What was so moving about the piece was that Amy’s love was so present in it, and would remain so, even long after she died. As a result, people followed Jason’s story after his wife passed, hoping that his wife’s dying wish would come true — that her husband would find love and happiness once again.
“I have been married to the most extraordinary man for 26 years,” Amy wrote three years ago in the viral piece. “I was planning on another 26 years.” But as she wrote it, she knew that wouldn’t be possible. So she left him with her beautiful words — and what turned out to be a pretty good husband advertisement.
After all, who better to speak about what a good husband someone is than his wife. She went on and on about the kind of person he was, not to mention his good looks. “Did I mention he’s incredibly handsome?” she noted. But she also shared intimate parts of their relationship, saying, “He is an easy man to fall in love with. I did it in one day."
Sadly, just 10 days after the piece ran in NYT's "Modern Love" column, Amy passed away. After that, like any grieving husband, Jason wasn't ready to date again. He focused on raising his kids, work, and navigating through the immense sadness of losing his beloved wife.
Still, he was pretty well-known due to Amy's letter. He ended up delivering a TED Talk. Then he published a response to his wife's "Modern Love" column. That piece ran the following June. It began “I am that guy." It was called, “My Wife Said You May Want To Marry Me." Now he has written a memoir that shares the title.
Jason’s life changed after his wife died, he told The Washington Post. He began working less and started a foundation for ovarian cancer research in his wife’s memory. Hollywood came calling, too, and a movie project about Amy’s “Modern Love” column is in the works (though currently on hold).
And of course, women did reach out to him. He estimates he got about 300 date requests, which he largely ignored.
He says there were “seven-page handwritten letters, extolling their virtues, their great looks,” he recalls. “Someone who was good at fixing a car. There were bunches of these envelopes decorated with stickers, almost as if they were young girls. One woman proclaimed, ‘I will marry you when you’re ready, provided you permanently stop drinking,’” he wrote.
Eventually, though, Jason did meet someone, which he reveals in his book. He says it's a gift that was given to him by his late wife. “I have, in my view, been through the whole range of emotions,” he says, at first feeling awkward about having someone new in his life, before realizing that “being happy again would actually be, in a way, a testament to the 30 beautiful years I’d had with Amy.”
Now Jason should be out promoting his new book, but like everything else, that is on hold, as well. Jason says he coping with that reality, along with the stay-at-home orders as best he can, and that in some ways, he feels more prepared after what he's gone through: “I experienced the depths of the pure sadness and grieving, and I’m armed with that. I’m able to handle this situation.”
Jason says he will continue promoting from home as best he can, even though he's not able to schedule events. Chances are, people are going to be interested in hearing what he has to say. So many interested readers have followed his story since Amy's essay was published. Now we get to find out what his next chapter has looked like.
What's more timely, though, is that the book's overriding theme is about grief. It's a topic all too many people are currently coping with at this moment in time. But it is also a book about love and hope — two things we all could use more of right now and always.
