Wife Creates Dating Profile for Her Handsome Husband of 20 Years You Wont Believe the Heartbreaking Reason Why

When Amy Krouse Rosenthal was only 24, she met Jason Rosenthal, she immediately knew that he was “the one”. The Chicago couple quickly married and lived what others called “a fairy tale marriage” for over 20 years. 

In September 2015, heartbreak struck the pair when Amy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The disease would sadly claim her life only two years later at age 51, with Jason standing strongly and stoically by her side throughout her harrowing journey.

Just ten days before her death, another chapter in the pair’s love story was revealed. The New York Times published a moving essay, written by Amy on her deathbed, in their Modern Love column.

It was poignant and inspired “personals ad” that detailed why she fell in love with Jason on their first date … and why someone else would easily fall in love with him, too.

You May Want to Marry My Husband

The essay, titled You May Want to Marry My Husband, was written as a love letter to Jason's future partners in love. Amy was clear in explaining how deeply she wanted Jason to find love again after her death, taking the opportunity to pen an elaborate “dating profile” and being his greatest cheerleader one last time. 

In Amy’s letter to the Times:

I have been trying to write this for a while, but the morphine and lack of juicy cheeseburgers (what has it been now, five weeks without real food?) have drained my energy and interfered with whatever prose prowess remains. Additionally, the intermittent micro naps that keep whisking me away midsentence are clearly not propelling my work forward as quickly as I would like. But they are, admittedly, a bit of trippy fun. Still, I have to stick with it, because I’m facing a deadline, in this case, a pressing one. I need to say this (and say it right) while I have a) your attention, and b) a pulse. I have been married to the most extraordinary man for 26 years. I was planning on at least another 26 together.

Amy described the day that their youngest child left for college – the day she received her devastating diagnosis. She said that in that moment, all of her future plans vanished, replaced only with thoughts of Jason’s future without her. She was determined that Jason’s story would continue to be full of love – and she was going to help him find it!

Allow me to introduce you to the gentleman of this article, Jason Brian Rosenthal. He is an easy man to fall in love with. I did it in one day.

Meeting Jason on a blind date, Amy shared that she " had precisely zero expectations about (it) going anywhere. But by the end of dinner, I knew I wanted to marry him." 

I have never been on Tinder, Bumble, or eHarmony, but I’m going to create a general profile for Jason right here, based on my experience of coexisting in the same house with him for, like, 9,490 days. The following list of attributes is in no particular order because everything feels important to me in some way. He is a sharp dresser. Our young adult sons, Justin and Miles, often borrow his clothes. Those who know him — or just happen to glance down at the gap between his dress slacks and dress shoes — know that he has a flair for fabulous socks. He is fit and enjoys keeping in shape. If our home could speak, it would add that Jason is uncannily handy. On the subject of food — man, can he cook. After a long day, there is no sweeter joy than seeing him walk in the door, plop a grocery bag down on the counter, and woo me with olives and some yummy cheese he has procured before he gets to work on the evening’s meal. Jason loves listening to live music; it’s our favorite thing to do together. I should also add that our 19-year-old daughter, Paris, would rather go to a concert with him than anyone else.

The letter continues with a seemingly endless inventory of Jason's remarkable qualities. Amy shared that he is a wonderful and compassionate father, a lawyer who loves to paint, and a man who fills each day with heartfelt gestures.

This is a man who emerges from the minimart or gas station and says, “Give me your palm.” And, voilà, a colorful gumball appears. (He knows I love all the flavors but white.) My guess is you know enough about him now. So, let’s swipe right. Wait. Did I mention that he is incredibly handsome? I’m going to miss looking at that face of his.

I want more time with Jason. I want more time with my children... I probably have only a few days left being a person on this planet. So why I am doing this? I am wrapping this up on Valentine’s Day, and the most genuine, non-vase-oriented gift I can hope for is that the right person reads this, finds Jason, and another love story begins. I’ll leave this intentional empty space below as a way of giving you two the fresh start you deserve.       

With all my love, 

Amy

The blank space that Amy included was Jason’s freedom to imagine what his future — and that of their three children, Miles, Paris and Justin — would look like after she was gone. 

Amy Touched the World

Amy’s NYT essay went viral, inspiring hundreds of touching conversations about love and loss.

After Amy’s passing, Jason established the Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation in support of child literacy and research in the early detection of ovarian cancer. He has penned a loving memoir, released in 2020, entitled My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me chronicling their timeless love story, the grief that followed Amy’s death and Jason’s path forward.

“I’m telling a story that many people think about but don’t really talk about — what it’s like to be with someone you love at the end of their life — and also about moving on,” Jason said. “Some way, somehow, I found my resiliency. I don’t think I could have without that gift that Amy gave me — that proverbial blank space.”

The book describes his wife, a beloved author of over 30 books, as “a bighearted, selfless, beautiful soul”, whose “legacy color was yellow - the color of happiness, glory, and wisdom.”

“Whatever your timetable is, it’s okay. Grief doesn’t have a timetable — for some it takes forever and for others it happens right away. I don’t think anyone should be judged for having the desire to move forward.”