Heartbreaking photo shows grieving man having Valentine's Day lunch with his wife's ashes

The man even bought his wife a glass of wine to share with him. Photo / Facebook

Valentine's Day is not all red roses, heart-shaped chocolates and date nights. For some, it's a dark reminder of having loved and lost.

A photo of a man having lunch with his wife's ashes on Valentine's Day has gone viral as a reminder to love the people in your life while they're still around.

A woman sitting in the same restaurant, in Texas, captured the photo of the man in tears, "sharing" a meal with his wife's ashes. The table has two wine glasses and even a greeting card with "you & me" on the cover.

"You know? We are all guilty of taking our other half for granted from time to time. We may forget to give a goodbye kiss, say I love you or just be so caught up in what we are doing at the moment that we don't notice the very little things that mean so much to our special someone," Chasidy Gwaltney, who took the photo, wrote in the caption.

You know? We are all guilty of taking our other half for granted from time to time. We may forget to give a goodbye...

Posted by Chasidy Gwaltney on Wednesday, 14 February 2018

"I saw something today that has made me remember that we won't always have each other to hold, talk to, love, play with or even just aggravate every now and then," she added.

"This picture speaks loudly and it may hurt your heart as it has mine. This man looks like he is spending Valentine's Day alone at first glance but that is actually his wife in that very beautiful bottle sitting on the table.

"Apparently his love for her was and still is very strong as he takes her ashes out for a Valentine's lunch date together. He even bought her a glass of wine... Please love your Sweetheart while you have the opportunity, you never know what tomorrow will bring or take away," the woman wrote.

The image was shared more than 240,000 times in less than 24 hours.

"This is by far the most touching thing I've seen in my short 17-year life," a Facebook user commented.