Suzanne Somers Read Her Husband’s Love Poem Just Hours Before Her Death

Actress Suzanne Somers died in her sleep on Sunday morning, just hours after she read a poem her husband Alan Hamel wrote her.

Somers married Hamel, a Canadian entertainer and film producer, in 1977 after ten years together. A day before Somers’ 77th birthday, Hamel, 87, decided to give her his poem a day early.

After Somers read the poem, she went to bed and died in her sleep a few hours later.

The poem is written in all caps and reads:

“LOVE I USE IT EVERY DAY, SOMETIMES SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. I USE IT AT THE END OF EMAILS TO MY LOVING FAMILY. I EVEN USE IT IN EMAILS TO CLOSE FRIENDS. I USE IT WHEN I’M LEAVING THE HOUSE.”

“THERE’S LOVE, THEN LOVE YOU AND I LOVE YOU!! THEREIN LIES SOME OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS WE USE LOVE. SOMETIMES I FEEL OBLIGED TO USE LOVE, RESPONDING TO SOMEONE WHO SIGNED LOVE IN THEIR EMAIL, WHEN I’M UNCOMFORTABLE USING LOVE BUT I USE IT ANYWAY.”

“I ALSO USE LOVE TO DESCRIBE A GREAT MEAL. I USE IT TO EXPRESS HOW I FEEL ABOUT A SHOW ON NETFLIX. I OFTEN USE LOVE REFERRING TO MY HOME, MY CAT GLORIA, TO THINGS GLORIA DOES, TO THE TASTE OF A CANTALOUPE I GREW IN MY GARDEN. I LOVE THE TASTE OF A FRESHLY HARVESTED ORGANIC ROYAL JUMBO MEDJOOL DATE. I LOVE BITING A FIG OFF THE TREE. I LOVE WATCHING TWO GIANT BLACKBIRDS WHO LIVE NEARBY SWOOPING BY MY WINDOW IN A POWER DIVE. MY DAILY LIFE ENCOMPASSES THINGS AND PEOPLE I LOVE AND THINGS AND PEOPLE I AM INDIFFERENT TO.”

“I COULD GO ON AD INFINITUM, BUT YOU GET IT. WHAT BRAND OF LOVE DO I FEEL FOR MY WIFE SUZANNE? CAN I FIND IT IN ANY OF THE ABOVE? A RESOUNDING NO!!!! THERE IS NO VERSION OF THE WORD THAT IS APPLICABLE TO SUZANNE AND I EVEN USE THE WORD APPLICABLE ADVISEDLY.”

“55 YEARS TOGETHER, 46 MARRIED AND NOT EVEN ONE HOUR APART FOR 42 OF THOSE YEARS. EVEN THAT DOESN’T DO IT. EVEN GOING TO BED AT 6 O’CLOCK AND HOLDING HANDS WHILE WE SLEEP DOESN’T DO IT. STARING AT YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE WHILE YOU SLEEP DOESN’T DO IT.”

“I’M BACK TO FEELINGS.  THERE ARE NO WORDS. THERE ARE NO ACTIONS. NO PROMISES. NO DECLARATIONS. EVEN THE GREEN SHADED SCHOLARS OF THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS HAVE SPENT 150 YEARS AND STILL HAVE FAILED TO COME UP WITH THAT ONE WORD. SO I WILL CALL IT, ‘US’, UNIQUELY, MAGICALLY, INDESCRIBABLY WONDERFUL ‘US.’”

Hamel’s poem has affected many with his excessive use of the word “love” for simple pleasures such as good meals, Netflix shows and cantaloupe.

As Hamel struggles to find a way to express the strength of his feelings, he concludes that the best word he can use to describe his love is a simple “us,” the word that implies them together.

Somers was best known for her TV roles in Step by Step and Three’s Company.