February 14 is celebrated as Valentine’s Day around the world, when people give gifts and flowers to their loved ones to remind them they are cherished.

In Sungurlu municipality in Türkiye’s Corum province, there’s an elderly man who does just that, even though his dear wife is no longer on this earthly plane.

Ibrahim Kayar, 80, visits the grave of his beloved late wife Elmas Kayar every year on February 14, leaving a single red rose for her to symbolise his everlasting love for his life partner whom he lost six years ago after being married for 60 years.

Ibrahim Kayar says that he lost his mother when he was 17. His father, Kayar says, told him that he did not want to remarry and bring a stepmother into their house, and suggested that his eldest son get married so that his wife could take care of his siblings.

Ibrahim Kayar took his father’s advice, and got married to Elmas Kayar when he was 18 and she was 25. The two never parted ways since then. The couple had three children and had a happy marriage until Elmas got sick in 2016 and lost her life.

Kayar, who has had a hard time adjusting to life without his wife, frequently visits her grave, and does not skip Valentine’s Day to show her his love with a single rose. Kayar told the AA reporter that he is in deep mourning of having lost his wife so soon.

Kayar says that during their marriage, they never once hurt or offended each other. “When we got married I was 18 and my wife was 25. We spent 60 years together. She was older than I was, I never once hurt her feelings, telling her ‘you are like this and I am like that.’ We respected each other that much. So when she is no longer here, it hurts even more.”

Kayar adds that he deeply misses his life partner, saying he visits her grave and prays. “I talk about the things that spring into my mind. She used to say ‘May God take from my lifespan and give it to you.’ I wish she hadn’t, I wish I had died before her. But it’s God’s will. No one breathes one more breath than they are meant to.”

Kayar says his own grave is already prepared next to his wife’s, noting that he visits her all the time. “She took care of my siblings as if they were her own children, raising them. May God bless her soul. May she rest in heaven. I am ready to take my place next to her.”

PHOTOS: Kemal Ceylan/AA