Elderly Man Sits By Wife’s Coffin For Hours Talking Lovingly To Her As He Said His Goodbyes

For married couples who have been together for most of their lives, saying goodbye is no less heartbreaking. No matter how long two people in love are together, the one left behind always wishes they had more time. A lifetime of laughter, tears, arguments, inside jokes, private moments, shared tragedies, parenthood, and many more experiences seem to have gone by in a blink of an eye when your soulmate is no longer with you. For those lucky enough to experience decades of such love there is a special bond that transcends words between each other that no one else in the world can ever fully understand. Such was the case for one grieving elderly widower in 2018, who spent hours sitting next to his wife’s coffin during her wake. A photographer was able to take a heartbreaking photo of the man and his beloved that has since gone viral. The photographer, April Yurcevic Shepperd detailed her moving experience watching Bobby Moore say goodbye to the love of his life for 59 years in a Facebook post titled “I Witnessed a Story of Love.” In the post she wrote:

“In such a world as ours, where vows are broken as quickly as the downing of a gavel, what I saw today was a rarity, a diamond exquisite in design,” wrote Shepperd. “Today I saw a man, a broken man, standing vigil over his most prized possession. Here was love personified.”

Moore was said to have arrived an hour before the scheduled time for family visitation and sat with his wife. The elderly man rubbed her arms and patted her hands while speaking softly to her. According to the photographer, Moore stayed by his wife’s side for five hours. He spoke glowingly of his beloved while holding her hand once his family arrived.

“She looks good, doesn’t she?” said Moore.

In her post, Shepperd pondered what would happen to Moore after that sad day.

“This man, this devoted man, had shown more grace in his time of grief than many do in times of plenty. I stood by in awe, watching faithfulness on display,” said Sheppard. “Never had I seen a man so broken, robbed of his happiness by the curse of death. I wondered as I watched him, what would he do tomorrow and the day after that? Today was the easy part.”

Moore’s family was very supportive of Shepperd’s post and hoped that her message would help heal other hearts broken by loss.

“Today, I witnessed a story of love.” Shepperd finished. “And I shall witness it again tomorrow when the story finally ends, and the stage is empty, and the lights go dark.”