Before their 49^th anniversary Joe Mikolajczak paid for a billboard to go up that was to be dedicated to his wife Mary Lou on their golden anniversary.

“It was just my way of saying ‘I love you,’” said Joe.

Throughout their marriage, he was always keen on surprising his wife, whom he had married in 1963.

“In any marriage you got keep things going. You gotta inject some kind of, let’s say levity into the marriage. Just to see her smile was worth it to me,” he said.

Sadly, his beloved wife passed away earlier this year – five months shy of their anniversary.

“I miss her every day. I cry every day. I cry every night and I should cry. She was a beautiful woman inside and outside,” Mikolajczak said.

Though Joe could have cancelled the billboard after Marylou’s death, he decided not to.

“About a week before she died, I told her what I was going to do and all she did was look at me and tell me I’m nuts — but she was worth it. I wanted her to have some sort of recognition,” he said.

The dates on the billboard don’t add up to 50 but instead add up to 68, which is how long Marylou lived.

Mikolajczak said if there’s one thing he always knew in their time together, it was this: “You can look around all you want for as long as you want. You’ll never fine anyone like her.”

Pics via fox6now