"If I Wake Up Tomorrow, I'll Be 85": Why a Photo of an Elderly Man in a Gift Shop is Capturing Hearts

Sometimes, we need to stop for a moment to remember ourselves in the chaotic race of our lives, and the incredible story that follows is a beautiful reminder of just that. 

A photo of an elderly man standing next to a woman in a discount store went viral after the six touching words he said to the woman, Louisa McKinney, were revealed. 

"I walked into the store to buy some gift wrap and a greeting card, when suddenly an older gentleman stood beside me and asked a question that touched my heart: "Miss, would you please help me with something?".

McKinney looked at him with surprise and said, 'Certainly.' 

"I need your help to pick out a birthday card," the elderly man said. 

McKinney asked for whom the card was intended to be smart about choosing it, assuming the man wanted to buy it for a grandchild or his wife. But then came the big surprise: "It's for me," the elderly man said. "If I wake up tomorrow - I'll be 85."

McKinney was moved, but when she heard what he was about to say next, she knew she had to share it (with his permission, of course) with others around the world, who would be just as touched. "My wife had been planning for months to buy me something, but now she's very ill and can't leave the house. I wanted her to know that I received a card from her for my birthday."

McKinney felt a tear roll down her cheek. 

"We married very young. We have children and grandchildren. She stayed by my side while I served several years in the military and never left..."

In a post McKinney shared on social media, she wrote that the story of the elderly man who wanted to make his wife happy by pretending she bought him a birthday gift - "melted my heart. I was so astonished that I pulled out my phone and took a picture so everyone could see it."