My Wife Said You Might Want To Marry Me by Jason B. Rosenthal

When I began working at my hospice five years ago, I started out as a volunteer. I would go into the homes of hospice patients, and spend time with them. To give myself some structure, I offered to help my patients write letters to their loved ones to read after they were gone. Rather than sad, the act of capturing someone’s final thoughts on paper felt meaningful and important. I can only imagine that is how Amy Krouse Rosenthal felt when she published her 2017 Modern Love essay in The New York Times called, “You Might Want to Marry My Husband.” Ten days later, she died of ovarian cancer, but not after touching the hearts of millions of readers around the world. She was just 51 years old and left behind her husband and three children. Her essay in the NYT talked about her loving husband, and how she hoped he might be able to move on after she was gone. In the book “My Wife Said You Might Want To Marry Me,” her spouse Jason takes his turn talking about her illness, his grief and how he has moved on. While Amy was a prolific writer full of passion, Jason was always a lawyer not quite sure he truly loved his job as much as she did. When Amy died, he was overcome with grief but also faced with the tasks of making a living, and raising his three children. His observations of Amy on hospice, and his exploration into his own grief led to something that I’m sure Amy would be so proud of. He has become a public speaker who addresses the very issues he faced with his wife: suffering, loss, grief and survival. He taught himself through activities like yoga, meditation and even live music, how to appreciate the small things and how to find joy in the middle of sorrow. He took his loss and turned it into something beautiful that not only brings him comfort, but also inspires others as well.  Well done Jason B. Rosenthal. Well done. To buy this book on Amazon click here