• The family requests that any memorial contributions be donated to the @onjfoundation.
• Easterling spoke about his loss in an interview with Hoda Kotb on the TODAY show earlier this month.
• He noted that he still communicates with the Grammy winner and senses her presence.

John Easterling, the star’s husband, is paying tribute to her with a touching account of how they became engaged. At her state memorial service in Australia on Sunday, Easterling, 70, paid homage to Newton-John among hundreds of admirers and family members. He described how the two became friends in a frank address.

Easterling acknowledged that he and his late partner “had some hard times in our life before, like everyone has,” but added that they openly discussed how fortunate they were to have met, how deeply in love they were, and how much happiness they were experiencing in their relationship. He continued, “I mean, [it was] an order of magnitude we thought maybe we should feel guilty [about], because we were so happy.”

I thought it’d be amazing to propose to her up in the Red Rock Canyons, so we went up there and did some treks up to some old places, but we decided we’d feel appreciation and just let the happiness run at full throttle, and we went to the desert in Arizona after that,” he continued.

Although he acknowledged that Newton-John and he encountered challenges that “sort of ruined the time” for him to pop the question, Easterling claimed that it finally occurred when they “wound up back in Scottsdale that night on Valentine’s Day” and engaged in a charades game.

“Would you marry me? was the coded phrase. Then after I stated it rhymes with “hairy,” she got the words “will” and “you,” after which she suddenly asked, “Would you marry me?” And I responded “Sure.” “He clarified. “She was surprised for a moment before breaking out in laughter. however, that’s how Olivia asked me to marry her.”

In other parts of his speech, Easterling also referred to Newton-John as a “healer” and recalled an occasion when he first seen her perform live.

He informed the audience, “You have to understand, I wasn’t an Olivia fan.” I had never even seen Grease, therefore I had never heard of any Olivia music.

So she entered the stage and began singing “Pearls on a Chain,” Easterling recounted. “There was this healing moving through the audience. This was a small little intimate theatre in Miami. The lights went down. I heard Peruvian flutes play.

“People were crying all around me, and I understood it,” he continued. “The realization that Olivia was a healer struck me like a laser beam in the chest. And she uses this as one of her therapeutic modalities.”

In other parts of his speech, Easterling also referred to Newton-John as a “healer” and recalled an occasion when he first seen her perform live.

He informed the audience, “You have to understand, I wasn’t an Olivia fan.” I had never even seen Grease, therefore I had never heard of any Olivia music.

So she entered the stage and began singing “Pearls on a Chain,” Easterling recounted. “There was this healing moving through the audience. This was a small little intimate theatre in Miami. The lights went down. I heard Peruvian flutes play.

“People were crying all around me, and I understood it,” he continued. “The realization that Olivia was a healer struck me like a laser beam in the chest. And she uses this as one of her therapeutic modalities.”

The four-time Grammy winner passed away at age 73 after a 30-year battle with breast cancer, and the funeral took place months later. On August 8, Easterling posted on her social media platforms about the demise of the Grease star.

At the time, he stated, “Olivia has been a symbol of successes and hope for over 30 years sharing her experience with breast cancer.” “The Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, which is focused on studying plant medicine and cancer, carries on her pioneering work in plant medicine and healing inspiration. The family requests that any memorial contributions be donated to the @onjfoundation rather than flowers in her honor.”

In September, Sir Cliff, John Travolta, Marie Osmond, Leeza Gibbons, and other celebrities gathered in Southern California for a memorial service to honour Newton-John.

For the service, other friends travelled from Australia as well.

Easterling spoke about his loss in an interview with Hoda Kotb on the TODAY show earlier this month. He noted that he still communicates with the Grammy winner and senses her presence.

Easterling responded, “Late at night or early in the morning,” when asked by Kotb, 58, when he felt her “the most now.”

I’ll just be speaking to her out loud while I’m strolling around the house or throwing the ball for the dogs, he said.

During the interview, Easterling clutched Lattanzi’s hand and added, “When you’re fortunate enough to have found your true soulmate and you share a heart, the other person has the responsibility to live life for both when one passes away, a guy I was travelling with once stated. And that gave me a lot of power and empowerment and, you know, provided a path forward.”

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