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An elderly man's words about his late wife reduced a shop full of people to tears

Heartbreaking.

Rachel Thompson

on September 14, 2017

When someone you love passes away, many of us think about our final words and moments with that person.

One elderly gentleman proffered some words of wisdom after his wife passed away, and subsequently reduced a group of listeners to tears.

A pharmacy employee recounted an interaction with a regular customer who used to come in with his wife. James Morales described the encounter in a series of tweets, stating it was one of the "saddest" experiences of his life.

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Morales said that the elderly couple would pick up their medication twice, sometimes three times a week and they were well known to all the staff. They'd been coming for years, and had grown close to the pharmacy employees, Morales wrote.

Morales spoke about the couple, and the way the husband behaved towards his wife.

Morales said the couple were inseparable.

But this day was different. When Morales asked the gentleman—who he referred to as Mr Smith—how he was doing, the man said he "could be better." Morales told the man he had six medications ready for him, three of which were for his wife. The man stood there, and was quiet for a moment, Morales recalled.

That's when Mr Smith explained that his wife had passed away the night before.

Everyone in the pharmacy stopped what they were doing and fell into complete silence.

Mr Smith stood before Morales in tears, while the silence was held by the staff.

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Then the man talked about how he felt about his wife's death.

"Hate to say it, but I wish I went before she did. It was hard waking up today, to an empty side of the bed. She was my best friend and lover," said Mr Smith.

Morales was, by this point, feeling very tearful. And, many of his colleagues were already crying.

Mr Smith said he would carry on living and taking his medication, as he had promised his wife he would.

Mr Smith continued talking about his wife, and the entire pharmacy was now in tears.

But, Mr Smith had some words of advice, which rang true for every single staff member in the shop at the time.

"Make sure to tell the ones you love that you appreciate them," said Mr Smith.

Mr Smith said he regretted his last conversation with his wife.

"Imagine, living with that for the rest of your life. Hoping that you said something else to the person that meant so much to you," wrote Morales.

Mr Smith's words had an instant impact on the people working behind the counter. The pharmacist called her husband to tell him how much she appreciates him.

Then all of Morales' colleagues began texting and calling their S.O.s to tearily tell them they loved them.

Morales said he found himself wanting to call someone, but realised he didn't have anyone to speak to.

Mashable contacted James Morales for comment and will update this story accordingly.

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Rachel Thompson

Features Editor

Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.

A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.

Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.