Rosi Golan and Jeremy Brennan’s closing hug symbolized a love story that started by probability in 2004.
The 2 met outdoors a locked bar in New York Metropolis after arriving late to a employees assembly, an ungainly second that led to an instantaneous connection.
A number of months later, Rosi, a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, and Jeremy, an Australian native, began relationship.
Their bond deepened, and in 2014, they married and constructed a life collectively in L.A., the place Jeremy labored in tech, and the couple fostered a baby.
However their journey took a devastating flip in December 2023. Jeremy was rushed to the emergency room with extreme again spasms, ready hours earlier than docs found alarming growths on his liver and backbone.
He was instantly hospitalized, spending the following six weeks below medical care.
A devastating analysis and fast decline
Jeremy’s battle with most cancers took a heartbreaking flip simply weeks after what appeared like promising therapy.
On January 2, 2024, Jeremy, 43, was recognized with Cholangiocarcinoma, a uncommon and aggressive most cancers that’s typically detected at a complicated stage.
He instantly started chemotherapy, and at first, docs have been hopeful—scans confirmed his tumors shrinking, and the outlook appeared optimistic.
At first, the therapy confirmed promise. “He was responding very well to the chemo,” Rosi advised PEOPLE. “Every little thing was shrinking. All of his scans have been trying actually good. The docs have been optimistic, feeling he might have years to reside. However then it received bizarre.”
Regardless of preliminary enhancements, Jeremy’s situation worsened abruptly. In simply seven weeks, he went from seeing a 40% discount in his tumors to struggling liver failure.
He was hospitalized for dehydration, and indicators of jaundice quickly appeared.
Docs delivered the devastating actuality—there have been no extra therapy choices, and he had solely weeks to reside.
Crafting a reminiscence of their closing hug
As Jeremy’s well being declined, Rosi rushed to meet his closing want—returning to Australia to be with family members.
She consulted a hematologist in regards to the dangers of flying and, regardless of the uncertainty, booked the tickets, decided to get him dwelling in time.
On the identical time, she reached out to ceramicist Patrick Johnston, whom she had met in 2021 throughout a pottery class in Venice.
She had at all times admired his distinctive strategy to shaping pottery and had hoped to create one thing with Jeremy.
Patrick, who was additionally battling most cancers, had as soon as invited them to collaborate, however Jeremy’s hospitalizations had made it not possible.
Now, with little time left, Rosi requested Patrick if they might nonetheless make it occur. She knew the second could be significant and one thing she would cherish without end.
With out hesitation, Patrick promised they’d discover a method, regardless of the circumstances.
With solely hours between Jeremy’s hospital discharge and their flight to Australia, Rosi introduced him dwelling for a short relaxation.
He took a fast bathe earlier than becoming a member of her household for a closing farewell.
In the lounge, Patrick waited with the vase they’d lengthy deliberate to create collectively.
Unbeknownst to Rosi, her mom recorded the second, capturing a number of the couple’s closing hug and final kisses.
Shortly after, they rushed to the airport. Through the flight, Rosi stored a watchful eye on Jeremy whereas a flight attendant—a former nurse—checked on him incessantly, offering ice packs and vomit luggage to ease his discomfort.
Upon arrival, they went straight to the emergency room earlier than heading to a rented seashore home.
Family members traveled from around the globe—Dubai, New York, Florida—to say their closing goodbyes.
Discovering solace and sharing their story
“It actually held me up throughout that point,” Rosi says. “I actually didn’t understand how I used to be going to outlive. And I don’t suppose I understood what folks’s love and vitality might carry you thru till that second. I don’t suppose I might have stood alone with out it.”
Rosi remembered when Jeremy felt responsible about his incapability to spend a lot time with family members who had traveled from afar.
She reminded him that their presence was vital not only for him however for them as properly.
Regardless of his discomfort with being the focus, Jeremy was identified in Australia as “the show-up man,” at all times there when others wanted him most.
After Jeremy handed away at 44 on August 24, 2024, Rosi confronted the sophisticated actuality of life with out him.
Within the months that adopted, she withdrew, struggling to speak about her grief. As time handed, mates started to float away, unsure methods to assist her.
To manage, she averted something that reminded her of Jeremy, together with the vase they’d created collectively.
In the meantime, Johnston continued to verify in, reminding her that the vase—her “closing hug” with Jeremy—could be there each time she was prepared.
However the weight of grief made it arduous to take that step, as going through these recollections meant accepting the painful fact of his absence.
Rosi determined it was time to convey flowers dwelling and place them within the vase because the six-month anniversary of Jeremy’s passing and their Valentine’s Day anniversary neared.
Earlier than heading to the studio, she rewatched the video of their closing hug, letting the feelings sink in.
On the way in which there, the load of the second hit her. Watching the video of their closing hug once more made her notice how vital that reminiscence was.
When she arrived, she shared her feelings with Johnston, feeling overwhelmed and grateful for his assist.
Seeing the vase for the primary time since Jeremy’s passing felt surreal. He had nonetheless been alive the final time she checked out it.
Now, she was taking it dwelling alone. Struck by its significance, she rigorously positioned it in her automotive, even buckling it in, afraid of shedding it.
Bringing it inside felt heavy, each bodily and emotionally. On daily basis, it stood as a reminder of her loss but additionally of the deep love and cherished recollections she would carry along with her without end.
Rosi initially deliberate to maintain the second non-public, recording herself choosing up the vase to share solely along with her mom.
However on impulse, she posted it on TikTok and Instagram, pairing it with footage of her and Jeremy creating the vase with their closing hug.
The next day, she thought of taking it down. Nonetheless, after seeing an outpouring of responses—together with messages from celebrities like Olivia Munn and Katie Couric, each of whom have been affected by most cancers—she determined to depart it up.
The submit resonated with many who had skilled loss, reminding Rosi that grief, whereas deeply private, additionally connects folks.
The assist she obtained made her really feel much less alone, displaying her that even in sorrow, a shared understanding brings folks collectively.
Rosi typically displays on the time she and Jeremy spent in hospitals and chemo facilities, passing the hours on their telephones.
They discovered consolation in watching TikToks collectively, sharing moments of pleasure amid the uncertainty.
Whereas researching his most cancers, she incessantly got here throughout movies from others going through comparable struggles.
Now, she realizes another person could also be watching her story from a hospital mattress, navigating their battle.
As an alternative of retreating from grief, Rosi is embracing it via creativity. She is engaged on a music referred to as “Proper Now,” with all streaming proceeds benefiting the Cholangiocarcinoma Basis.
She hopes to encourage others to cherish time with family members, create significant moments, and have essential conversations whereas they’re wholesome.
Jeremy lived with out regrets, at all times pursuing tasks that mattered to him. In his closing days, his solely concern was how his passing would have an effect on her. Rosi hopes his story will encourage others to reside absolutely within the current, simply as he did.
She plans to position contemporary flowers within the vase every week to maintain his reminiscence shut. With no gravesite to go to, the vase has develop into her method of honoring him.
“I wish to at all times have it the place I can see it, both in my front room or someplace the place it’s displayed,” she says.
Watch Rosi and Jeremy’s heartfelt video, creating a phenomenal vase designed by their closing hug beneath:
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