John Easterling's Tribute To Wife Olivia Newton-John Is Absolutely Heart-Wrenching

The world has been mourning the death of Olivia Newton-John since August 8, when her family announced the devastating news on social media. While the official cause of her death has yet to be confirmed, Newton-John's husband, John Easterling, praised the "Grease" star's strength and activism through the 30 years she lived with breast cancer. "Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund," Easterling wrote on Facebook.

Newton-John and Easterling founded the organization together, combining her experience and his knowledge as an herbalist conducting research in the Amazon since 1976, according to LabAroma. It was through that shared passion for finding alternative healing methods that Newton-John and Easterling found each other. While they'd briefly met around the time of Newton-John's cancer diagnosis, they reconnected around 2007 during a trip to the South American rainforest, People reported. "I wasn't expecting to fall in love with him and then bam!" she said.

Newton-John and Easterling returned to the Amazon to make their relationship official on June 21, 2008, tying the knot in the mountains following Incan traditions, according to People. "Seems like yesterday I married the man of my dreams in Peru on the winter solstice," she wrote on Instagram to mark their 12th anniversary in 2020. After a series of complicated relationships, Newton-John had found her one later in life. "You're never too old to find love," she told People. Easterling's tribute to her illustrates how deep their bond was. 

John Easterling has never taken his time with Olivia Newton-John for granted. On August 10, the herbalist took to Newton-John's Instagram to pay tribute to his wife, using the space to celebrate her spirit. "Her bandwidth for genuinely caring for people, for nature and all creatures almost eclipses what is humanely possible," he wrote. Easterling saw the 15 years he spent alongside Newton-John as a blessing. "It is only the grace of God that has allowed me to share the depth and passion of her being for so long," he added. 

Easterling also marveled at how special their love was, noting that their relationship simply flowed. "We never had to 'work' on it," he said. "We were in awe of this great mystery and accepted the experience of our love as past, present and forever." Newton-John certainly shared this vision of their relationship. "I found the love of my life at 59 going on 60! I'm grateful," she told People in 2016.

Also telling is that Newton-John's last Instagram post honored Easterling. On August 5, the actor and singer uploaded a photo featuring Easterling with his arms around her as she smiled at the camera. In the caption, she just noted that the snapshot was a throwback. Her post becomes even more meaningful when we consider that Newton-John rarely ever used her social media to share insight into her personal life, preferring to use it to promote her work and activism.