We did not see this one coming.
Elizabeth Gilbert, she who has been blessed by Oprah and inspired every girl in her 20’s to customize an Eat Pray Love vacation of their own, has followed her happiness and fallen in love with her best friend, Rayya Elias.
Back in July, Gilbert confirmed that she and husband Jose Nunes – whom she famously met in Bali during the “Love” section of her best-selling book, Eat Pray Love – were separating.
At the time, Gilbert chose not to reveal the reasons behind the couple’s split, but today the world-famous author wrote a note to her fans on Facebook, admitting that she has fallen for Elias, who was diagnosed with cancer this past spring.
Dear Ones – There is something I wish to tell you today — something which I hope and trust you will receive with grace. This spring, I received news that would change my life forever. My best friend Rayya Elias was diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer — a disease for which there is no cure.
In the moment I first learned of Rayya’s diagnosis, a trap door opened at the bottom of my heart (a trap door I didn’t even know was there) and my entire existence fell straight through that door.
From that moment forward, everything became about HER. I cancelled everything in my life that could be cancelled, and I went straight to her side, where I have been ever since.
Something happened to my heart and mind in the days and weeks following Rayya’s diagnosis. Death — or the prospect of death — has a way of clearing away everything that is not real, and in that space of stark and utter realness, I was faced with this truth: I do not merely love Rayya; I am in love with Rayya. And I have no more time for denying that truth.
The thought of someday sitting in a hospital room with her, holding her hand and watching her slide away, without ever having let her (or myself!) know the extent of my true feelings for her…well, that thought was unthinkable. Here is the thing about truth: Once you see it, you cannot un-see it.
So that truth, once it came to my heart’s attention, could not be ignored. But what to do with this potentially life-shattering truth?
Now let me tell you something I’ve learned from Rayya, over the fifteen years of our friendship. She is the most brave and honest person I know, and she has taught me more about courage and honesty than anyone I have ever met.
Here is her mantra on truth, which I’ve heard her express so many times over the years, in so many difficult situations: “The truth has legs; it always stands. When everything else in the room has blown up or dissolved away, the only thing left standing will always be the truth. Since that’s where you’re gonna end up anyway, you might as well just start there.”
So. Here is where we stand now: Rayya and I are together. I love her, and she loves me. I’m walking through this cancer journey with her, not only as her friend, but as her partner. I am exactly where I need to be — the only place I can be.
Gilbert gently encouraged her fans not to send tips/stories/remedies for Elias’ cancer, because they have been overwhelmed by information in the past months.
Instead, Gilbert requested that people send “whatever extra love” that’s being carried around in their hearts.
“It will be felt,” she wrote. “And it will help. We will resonate with it, and we will thank you for it.”
