Real Life

Widow receives flowers from late husband

Shelly Golay widow flowers

This Valentine’s Day widow Shelly Golay received a bouquet of flowers from her husband, even though he died last year!

Shelly’s story echoes PS I Love You– a bittersweet film starring Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank in which a young widow discovers that her late husband has left her letters intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.

Shelly lost her husband Jim last June. They had been happily married for over 28 years, however Jim passed away after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

When Valentine’s Day came around, Shelly didn’t expect much and was shocked when she got a beautiful bunch of flowers with a note attached.

“Happy Valentine’s Day Honey. Stay Strong! Yours Forever, Love Jim,” the note read.

“I though the kids sent the flowers to begin with,” she told US news network KCWY.

Shelly contacted the flower shop to get to the bottom of the Valentine’s Day gift, and that’s when she found out what her husband did before his death.

Jim had arranged to have flowers delivered to his wife every single Valentine’s Day for the rest of her life.

“He’s such an amazing man and he just can love beyond boundaries. There is no boundaries with him, even in death. He’s just amazing,” Shelly said.

“Until the day I die, I’ll get Valentine’s flowers on Valentine’s Day and that’s just a testament of his love all over again.” She gushed about the love of her life.

Shelly and Jim’s daughter, Ashley was at the grocery store when she found out who the flowers were from, and “just started bawling”.

“I was so excited to know he had done something so sweet. It was just like my dad to do something like that. At the same time, it was bittersweet, because we knew in order for him to set something like that up, he must have known at one point he wasn’t going to make it.”

Their story is better than a fairytale, it is reality.

Jessie Row is the florist that made Jim’s wish come true.

“Basically, he had called and set it up before he passed and what it’s going to be is just every Valentine’s Day, just some of her favourite assorted coloured roses will be sent until the day she dies,” Jessie said.

“She called the other day, we all almost started bawling. So it was really touching to hear the story and know that he had done that for her. It sees like something that only happens in the movies or that you hear about.”

Shelly and Jim’s fairy tale romance may have been cut short, but Jim has made his love known – even if it is beyond the grave. In Shelly’s heart, she knows that these flowers mean that “his love never ends”.

“It was true love and you just don’t find that very often, you know,” she said. “The fairy tale romance, the knight in shining armour, you just don’t find that. And even though we didn’t get the fairy tale ending, it was amazing.”

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