This picture of an elderly man eating out with a photo of his late wife has melted the hearts of thousands after it went viral last week. It was tweeted by Madina Bashizadah, who clicked the picture while having lunch with a friend at In-N-Out Burger in Fremont, California. Since she uploaded the pic on October 22, it has been retweeted over 8,000 times.

Madina said that she noticed the man seated at a nearby table, eating his meal while staring at a framed photograph in front of him. She immediately interpreted that the woman in the photo must be his deceased wife. This moved her so much that she burst into tears and couldn’t bring herself to approach him.

“When I saw him, I got very emotional and started tearing up,” she later said. “My best friend wanted me to talk to him but I couldn’t without breaking down.” Other diners at the restaurant, however, did pluck up the courage to speak to the old man and ask him about the photo. He confirmed that the woman was indeed his wife who had passed away five years ago, and he seemed excited to talk about her and share their beautiful love story .

Madina learned that the old man first met his wife when they were only 17 years old. The war kept them apart for 10 years after that, but he never stopped searching for her. “One day as he was telling his barber about her, the barber calls his daughter and it ends up being her,” she shared on Twitter. “They were married instantly and it lasted 55 years until she passed away. He takes her photo everywhere.”

The photo has been marked as a favorite by over 13,000 people, and Madina is quite overwhelmed with the response. “I didn’t think anything like that would ever happen. I tweet everything, it’s kinda like my public diary,” she said. “So when I saw this, it was such a beautiful moment I was like ‘aw, I’m gonna tweet this’. Not to be cheesy, but it made me want that kinda love.”

Interestingly, another photo of the old man eating out with a photo of his wife has been circulating around the internet lately. Two weeks ago, a picture of the same man, in the same spot, but on a different day was posted on Imgur, with the caption: “Be sure to talk to the elderly. Especially strangers. You may think that you will brighten their day, but you may be surprised that they can actually brighten yours.”

Madina said she’s been receiving hate tweets from users who think she stole the photo from someone else. But she clarified that the picture was hers, because you can see the corner of her eye in the pic she posted. She’s just glad that she was able to share the story that has managed to touch so many hearts. “Goes to show you true love does exist and I would love for everyone to know!”

Sources: Today.com, Huffington Post