Grace's amazing valentine

Grace and Homer "Willy" Williamston were married September 8, 1984. They'd both lost their previous mates to cancer.

In fact, Grace had provided hospice care for Willy's first wife during the final days of her life.

From the very beginning of their relationship, Grace and Willy had known they were soulmates.

The couple enjoyed traveling together, and to celebrate Valentine's Day back in 1987, Grace and Willy relaxed at the coast for a few days. The morning of Valentine's Day, Grace got up and dressed, ready to go out for a special breakfast before they headed home to Sisters.

Then Willy locked himself in the motel bathroom and stayed so long that Grace began to worry.

"I knocked on the door and asked Willie if he was all right," Grace laughed, remembering the incident.

"Willy just called out, 'I'm fine!' so I sat down and read a book while I waited."

After nearly an hour, Willy emerged from the bathroom--walking sideways as he maneuvered a giant heart-shaped balloon through the narrow doorway.

The balloon read, "Love you so much it hurts."

Inside a white, Band-Aid-shaped space across the top of the balloon, Willy had written: "To Grace, my love, from your ever-loving Willy."

"He handed me the balloon and said, 'Boy, that nearly did me in!' He'd spent all that time in the bathroom blowing it up," said Grace.

The balloon was carefully transported home in the backseat of the car and has mysteriously reappeared every Valentine's Day since.

"Every Valentine's Day I get up in the morning and Willy would have the balloon hanging from the living room balcony," Grace explained. "He'd always write the date before he hung it."

This year, Grace hung the balloon up herself.

Willy had battled cancer since 1999, and finally succumbed to the disease the week before Christmas.

While still devastated by the loss of her soulmate, Grace takes comfort in the gift of love Willy left her.

"Not long ago, while he was undergoing chemo, Willy said to me, 'Grace, as long as the air is still in the balloon, put it up every year with the date. That's still my breath in there.'"

Grace paused to wipe away a tear.

"After all these years, it's still Willy's breath in that balloon. That means so much to me."