Now a widower, Chicago man responds to late wife’s viral essay

On Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s last Valentine’s Day, the New York Times published her “Modern Love” piece — at once telling the world she soon would die of cancer and that her beloved husband deserved another shot at happiness.

The love was letter printed 10 days before her death in 2017; she titled it “You May Want to Marry my Husband” and it was a viral sensation.

Father’s Day this year, Jason Rosenthal, the subject of Krouse Rosenthal’s poetic tribute, publicly responded with his own “Modern Love” column, titled “My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me,” (he doesn’t claim to be the prolific wordsmith his late wife was).

“She wrote her essay in the form of a personal ad. It was more like a love letter to me,” Rosenthal wrote.

Rosenthal is a Chicago attorney and he and Krouse Rosenthal, who met when she was 24, were married 26 years before her death at age 51. They have three children who are now grown. Rosenthal wasn’t immediately available to speak by phone.

In his letter posted online in recent days, Rosenthal wrote: “In her memoirs she had written about the children and me, but not like this. How was she able to combine such feelings of unbearable sadness, ironic humor and total honesty?”

He updates readers on the past year and how he is coping with Krouse Rosenthal’s death. His tone is grateful for the wife who not only gave him decades of happiness, but also permission to find happiness after her death.

“If I can convey a message I have learned from this bestowal, it would be this: Talk with your mate, your children and other loved ones about what you want for them when you are gone. By doing this, you give them liberty to live a full life and eventually find meaning again. There will be so much pain, and they will think of you daily. But they will carry on and make a new future, knowing you gave them permission and even encouragement to do so.”

Rosenthal doesn’t offer information as to whether he’s considering a new love. He does share a string of heartwarming, sad and funny responses that flooded in during the last days of Krouse Rosenthal’s life and the weeks and months after. But it is his closing, which mirrors Krouse Rosenthal’s, that is particularly poignant.

“I am now aware, in a way I wish I never had to learn, that loss is loss is loss, whether it’s a divorce, losing a job, having a beloved pet die or enduring the death of a family member. In that respect, I am no different.”