Elizabeth Gilbert Posts Touching Tribute After Partner Rayya Elias Dies
Elizabeth Gilbert’s partner and fellow writer, Rayya Elias, has died, the Eat Pray Love author confirmed Thursday. She was 57.
In messages posted to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, Gilbert wrote a touching tribute to her partner, who was diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer in the spring of 2016.
“I loved you so much, Rayya,” Gilbert wrote. “Thank you for letting me walk with you right to the edge of the river. It has been the greatest honor of my life. I would tell you to rest in peace, but I know that you always found peace boring. May you rest in excitement.”
A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on Jan 4, 2018 at 6:57pm PST
Days before Elias’ death, Gilbert shared an Instagram photo of the two on New Year’s Day. “We made it,” she wrote. “Blessed be.”
A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on Dec 31, 2017 at 10:54pm PST
The two held a commitment ceremony in June 2017. While the ceremony was not legally binding, Gilbert said it was a “private celebration of what we have long known to be true: We belong to each other.”
In September 2016, Gilbert penned a touching Facebook post in which she said she was in love with, and committed to, her best friend. The author also said her relationship with Elias contributed to the end of her marriage with José Nunes, the man known as “Felipe” in Gilbert’s bestselling memoir.
Elias was a writer and musician and the author of Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post-Punk From the Middle East to the Lower East Side.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
