The emotional essay has gone viral online since it was published on Friday, with many social media users calling it “heartbreakingly beautiful”.

“The bar is now so impossibly high, though. Beautifully graceful & utterly heartbreaking,” wrote one.

And one 72-year-old woman, who met the love of her life only six years ago, wrote: “We both know our time together is limited and share an appreciation that we have experienced this kind of love, even this late in life.

“You have given all of us a glimpse of what we can and could be when love is our life’s compass.”

You can read her entire essay here.

Images: iStock

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