Jason Rosenthal
Benefitting Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation
In March 2017, Chicago writer Amy Rosenthal wrote what may be the most widely read personal ad in history. But it wasn't for her. Rosenthal was planting the seeds for the world - and hopefully the right woman - to fall in love with her husband Jason, knowing that she had very little time left to live after a battle with ovarian cancer. "You May Want to Marry My Husband" was published in the popular Modern Love column in the New York Times, and was read by millions around the world. In it, she gushes about her handsome, thoughtful, and talented husband; the life they had together, and how she hoped he would move forward. Jason, a lawyer and now public speaker on the topic of grieving, offers answers to what became of him after Amy's death, and what it was like to open his heart to love again.
Wise Words
“Our relationship, which was already so loving and strong only got stronger and more loving if that’s possible. Because we had this opportunity to really get intimate in a way that was much more intense, obviously as you’re facing the end of one’s life. And you have that time to talk to each other about issues that are so important to one another. And it’s been part of my mission over the last three years, as I’ve begun to speak publicly about these issues, to encourage people to talk about intimate things earlier when you’re healthy and younger. It really does amazing things for the person who survives a potential loss.”
“It really has guided me moving forward to try, really try each day to appreciate how lucky I am to be here on this planet in the short amount of time, that’s clearly meant for us. And we never know when that’s going to end.”
“Grief is a beast, and it really socks you and there really is no timetable for grief.”
“Say something. It’s very, very unlikely that what you’re going to say is going to be so offensive that you’re going to lose a relationship, okay? Even just saying something as easy as, “I am so sorry. And I’m really thinking about you.” Do you know how far that goes? It goes a long way.”
“And some of my friends were just really natural at being able to do that. I tell a story in the book about a friend of ours who may not have known exactly what to say, but would text us and then just me, song lyrics. He was a big Grateful Dead fan. So he’d send me these beautiful lyrics. And I know he was thinking about me. That’s a simple gesture.”
“Find something meaningful that you can do in your life as you continue to move forward, because we just don’t know what kind of time we have, and we don’t want to have a lot of regrets.”
Links
Link to Jason’s book: My Wife Said You May Want To Marry Me
Link to Amy’s books: whoisamy.com
Link to Jason’s charity: Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation