When it comes to love we all dream of finding THE ONE — the one we’ll grow old with. The one we’ll laugh with, cry with, live with, and share our dreams and our fears with.
We want the kind of romantic love that is the stuff of great Hollywood movies, like Allie and Noah in The Notebook and Carl and Ellie in Up.
But as we go through life and experience heartbreak, it can be easy to become cynical. To question if that kind of love truly exists.
But as it turns out, it does. TRUE LOVE ISN’T DEAD! And one photographer took the video to prove it.
The Viral Video That Has People Around the World Swooning
Photographer, Hannah Greenwood, was enjoying an afternoon at Znjan Beach in Split, Croatia, when an elderly man on the beach caught her eye. Intrigued by him, she started recording.
“I just started filming a sweet old man carrying something and I had no idea where he was going…” Hannah wrote in a caption on her now-viral TikTok.
She captured the elderly gentleman, dressed in a dark jacket, khakis, and a baseball cap, gingerly walking across the sand, cradling something in his weathered hands.
He crosses the street to a woman (presumably his wife) sitting on a bench, a walking brace perched beside her.
As he gets near, she cups her hands in response and he bends over, placing something carefully into her hands. Turns out, it’s seawater.
“He brought his wife sea water to touch!”
Hannah Greenwood via TikTok
In a mere 35 seconds, Hannah managed to capture the magic of an entire lifetime of love. When his wife couldn’t access the sea, he brought the ocean to her…so they could experience it together. And if this isn’t an act of pure, unadulterated love, I don’t know what is.
See for yourself (and try not to cry!)
Reaction to the Sweet Moment
The heartwarming video that has people believing in love all over again has garnered over 24 MILLION VIEWS from romantics all over the world. It has over 5.6 million reactions, and 26,000 comments, and has been shared all over social media.
Because people love love.
And say what you will about it, who among us doesn’t want to experience a love like that?
As commenter @hailseleiro put it, “To be loved is to be considered. what a beautiful moment.”
So beautiful, in fact, that it’s bringing out people’s inner poet.
Tiktoker @gracie wrote, “’I would bring the ocean to you if you could not walk to it yourself’ and now I’m crying.” (*We’re all crying*).
TikTok user, @Zollie, commented, “With hands so old, yet firm and true, he captured the sea, in hues of blue. His love for her, in each tide he’d hold, a story of the sea, by his hands, was told.”
And @Ghost wrote, “She searched the entire world so she could find love in me, so in turn I bring her parts of that world, starting with the sea.”
Turns Out, True Love Is All Around Us
While many people are still waiting for a love like this to come along (based on the sheer number of commenters sharing the sentiment, “Please let another human being love me this much,” some lucky ones have already found it.
“My dad took my mother to the beach for one final visit. Almost 24 hours round trip. She passed the next day, but she got to see her happy place one last time,” shared one commenter.
Another wrote, “My husband will walk the beach while I read and come back and present me with seashells. ‘I scoured the whole beach for you,’ he says.”
A third wrote, “I waited until I was 35 to meet a man like this. Never. F*cking. Settle.”
True Love Really Does Exist
This elderly gentleman’s sweet gesture for his wife speaks volumes of the depth of his love for her. And is undeniable proof that true love? Really does exist.
When it comes down to it, love isn’t found in big, sweeping gestures or expensive gifts.
The truth is that true love, lasting love, the forever kind of love, is found in soft, simple, quiet whispers like these. The gentle moments where we feel truly seen and considered. The ones we share, hand in hand, just so we can experience life and all it holds for us, together.
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