Evening all. Thank you so much for your replies. You've helped me more than you'll ever know.
Shortly after Richard was released from the hospital and was staying in a nursing care facility, I reminded him of my dreams when I met him years ago when I was just twenty-two years old--that one day I hoped that he'd be an old man of 95 and I'd still be a young whipper snapper at 80. Meaning that, despite our 15-year age difference, I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.
He kissed me and said, "nothing in life is guaranteed." As I was driving home, I realized that he's wrong. One thing in life is guaranteed. I will always love him. Nothing will change that.