Widow John Easterling opens up on finding love again after 'supernatural' marriage to Olivia Newton-John

26 September 2024, 11:37

It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.

That's precisely how John Easterling describes his marriage to Grease legend Olivia Newton-John.

And even after her death in 2022, having lost her battle to breast cancer, he is still very much in love with his late wife.

But it's that love that remains he pours into his work with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, a project she started over a decade ago to help eradicate cancer and care for those suffering from it.

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Talking to People in a new interview, Easterling said: "I'm doing super fantastic. I'm staying very busy with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund and the research that's going on there."

"We're sponsoring plant medicine and cancer research. And the beauty of that is that we're seeing quite stunning results in the early stages."

Whilst he's keeping busy, Olivia's memory lingers in the home they shared together. So Easterling has decided to sell it and move on.

"I'm still at the ranch, but we just put it on the market," referring to their sprawling ranch in Santa Ynez, California.

"I've got the animals here, the horses and cat and dog. We're all just moving forward."

"We had such a lovely time here, but it was our place and now I'm recognising it's time to let somebody else enjoy that peace and serenity and beauty," he says, reflecting on the home they shared together.

"People who are in a similar circumstance I know would understand."

Easterling intends to spend his time living between Florida and Peru, yet his heart will remain in Santa Ynez, and with Olivia.

"I have that very strong presence of her all the time. And sometimes even last night with the full moon, she was so present.

"And then today I was just listening to the song 'My Dream', the Jim Brickman song, and it was just so spectacular," he gushed, talking about his late wife's long-lost recording that was recently released.

"It really just sent me into a supernatural space of emotion and joy."

The widow still feels so strongly connected to Olivia, that he finds it difficult to consider the possibility of finding new love, because his love with Olivia was extraordinary and unique.

John first met Olivia in 1993 when they were with other partners, yet began dating in 2007 and married a year later.

"Olivia and I had a love so big and so indefinite in time," John said. "We embraced it as something even bigger than ourselves."

"We never had any petty arguments or anything like that. I mean, our whole life experience and the things that we shared and believed in were just too important. I didn't even think love could be like that."

Whilst it has only been two years since the death of his one true love, Easterling believes: "That's not going to happen again, I mean, I don't expect it.

"More recently, I'm getting messages coming from Olivia when I'm in Peru at our special places there, and those messages are like 'Love life, live life.

"Life is very, very precious, and don't waste a moment of life because it's a very thin veil that separates us.'"

Easterling added that love "can express itself in many forms and many ways. It's having loving relationships with everyone in your life. It's just different expressions."

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"I couldn't imagine it being possible the first time," he said about finding love with Olivia. "So I can't imagine it being possible again."

Though he might not ever be ready to move on from his marriage to the 'Hopelessly Devoted To You' icon, Easterling does believe he'll see her again.

"I see and feel her presence all the time, and I know we'll be completely reunited again. So that's giving me the strength and the energy to really push forward."