Couple Creates Piece of Art to Preserve Final Hug (Exclusive)

• Rosi Golan and Jeremy Brennan met in 2004 while working at a bar in New York City
• A few months later, Golan, a singer-songwriter raised in Los Angeles, and Brennan, originally from Australia, started dating. Then, on Aug. 27, 2014, they got married
• Later, in January 2024, Brennan, 43 at the time, was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer
• Right before he died, the couple created a vase to preserve their hug

Rosi Golan and Jeremy Brennan crossed paths by chance. It was in 2004, and both showed up late to their first staff meeting at a bar in New York City, only to find the door locked. Embarrassed, they began knocking, and that was the moment their connection began.

A few months later, Golan, a singer-songwriter raised in Los Angeles, and Brennan, originally from Australia, started dating. On Aug. 27, 2014, they married and settled back in L.A. Brennan landed a job in tech and a few years later the couple fostered a child.

But just as their lives seemed to fall into place, on Dec. 23, 2023, Brennan ended up in the emergency room after suffering multiple back spasms. He waited for hours to be seen, but by morning, CT scans revealed growths on his liver and spine. He was immediately hospitalized, and stayed for six weeks.

On Jan. 2, 2024, Golan and Brennan, 43 at the time, received the devastating diagnosis of Cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. It’s typically diagnosed in older adults and is often already in an advanced stage by the time it’s detected. Just one day after the diagnosis, Brennan began chemotherapy.

“He was responding really well to the chemo,” Golan, 43, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Everything was shrinking. All of his scans were looking really good. The doctors were optimistic, feeling he could have years to live. But then it got weird.”

“I don’t know who exactly said it, but someone referred to it as a ‘turbo cancer,’ ” she adds. “He had scans just eight weeks prior, and everything looked so good. He had 40% shrinkage of all his tumors. Then, in just seven weeks, he was in liver failure. It was so crazy. He was hospitalized for dehydration, and started becoming jaundiced. The oncologist called us and said, ‘We’ve run out of things we can do. Realistically, you have about two weeks.’ ”

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Things moved quickly from there. Golan sprang into action, knowing that Brennan wanted to be home in Australia with his family and friends if the end was near. She consulted a hematologist about the safety of flying, which was risky, but booked tickets anyway.

Then, she reached out to her friend Patrick Johnston, a ceramicist she had met in 2021 while taking classes in Venice. Golan had fallen in love with his signature design, for which he embraces pots and transforms them into art. When Johnston, who also has cancer, learned about Brennan’s illness, he invited the couple to participate in the process of making a vase together. But with Brennan constantly in and out of the hospital, they never made the time.

“I just texted Patrick and asked, ‘Is there any way we can still make this happen?’ ” she remembers messaging Johnston after learning that Brennan only had weeks left to live. “Even though it felt like there was no time, I knew it would be something I could forever be grateful for.”

“Patrick responded immediately: ‘Absolutely, we’ll make it work, no matter the time or place,’ ” she adds.

The day Brennan was released from the hospital, the couple had a narrow window — less than five hours — between his discharge and their flight to Australia from LAX. Golan brought him home, and he took a shower. Then they came downstairs to spend some final moments with her family.

Also there, waiting in the living room, was Johnston, with the vase for Golan and Brennan to embrace. Golan didn’t know at the time, but her mom was filming what would turn out to be some of the couple’s last kisses.

From there, the couple headed to the airport. They boarded their flight to Australia, sitting in business class. Golan kept a watchful eye on Brennan the entire journey. The flight attendant, a former nurse, continually checked on him, bringing ice packs and vomit bags. Upon arrival, they went straight to the emergency room before heading to a beach house they had rented. Friends and family flew in from all corners of the world — Dubai, New York, Florida — to see Brennan one last time.

“It truly held me up during that time,” Golan says. “I honestly didn’t know how I was going to survive. And I don’t think I understood what people’s love and energy could carry you through until that moment. I don’t think I could have stood on my own without it.”

“I remember having a conversation with Jeremy, and he said, ‘I feel so bad — people are flying in from so far away, and I don’t have the energy to really sit with them for long,’ ” Golan adds. “And I just looked at him and said, ‘You have to let people show up for you. If you can’t accept that for yourself, let them do it for themselves, because it’s for them too.’ He hated being the center of attention, but he was known as ‘the show-up guy’ in Australia — he showed up when you needed him most.”

On Aug. 24, 2024, Brennan died at age 44. The months that followed were difficult for Golan as she navigated life without her partner of almost 10 years.

She kept her feelings private, unable to talk to anyone or express her grief. Over time, she realized people didn’t know how to treat her, and friends started drifting away. She avoided anything related to Brennan, including picking up the vase.

“Patrick kept texting me, saying, ‘Whenever you’re ready, your hug is here. Take your time,’ ” Golan says. “When you experience loss, there are certain things you put off, because the moment you do them, everything becomes even more real.”

Then, this February, just shy of the six-month mark since Brennan’s death and their anniversary, which fell on Valentine’s Day, Golan knew she wanted to get flowers and put them in the vase. Before heading to the studio, she rewatched the video her mom had sent her from that final hug one more time.

“It really hit me on the way to the studio. I kind of fell apart when I saw the video because I realized how much more significant it was than I realized at the moment,” she says. “When Patrick put the vase down, I shared that with him, and I was crying. I felt bad because I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but he was so great about it.”

“It was overwhelming to see it physically,” she continues. “The last time I saw it, Jeremy was alive. This time, I was standing in front of it alone, putting it in my car. I buckled it in because I was afraid something would happen to it. It was heavy — heavy bringing it home and putting it down. Every day, it’s heavy looking around, when everything is so quiet. You’re used to doing everything with a person who’s your best friend. And in a way, it’s a heavy reminder, but also a beautiful one. I get to look at it and appreciate that moment, but it’s hard too.”

Although Golan doesn’t normally film moments in her life, something inside of her decided to record the moment she picked up the vase. She only planned to send it to her mom, but then made a spur-of-the-moment decision to post it on TikTok and Instagram, stitched with the original video her mom had sent her of the couple creating it.

She woke up the next morning planning to delete it, but when she saw the attention it was receiving — including from celebrities like Olivia Munn and Katie Couric, both of whom have been affected by cancer — she decided to keep it up.

“This is so beautiful. Sending you love ❤️,” Couric wrote.

“❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️,” Munn commented.

“It’s such an intimate thing to share,” Golan says. “I’ve lost my husband to cancer. I’ve lost cousins to cancer. I’ve known so many people who’ve lost parents, grandparents, siblings … It’s just such a connecting force, and it’s so isolating too.”

“It feels less lonely when other people reach out to you and say, ‘Actually, I’ve been going through the same thing, and this is how I get through my days,’ ” she adds. “And I’m really grateful for that part of it.”

What struck Golan the most was thinking of how in the last year, she spent countless hours on her phone in hospitals and chemo centers. Together, she and Brennan would share videos or watch TikToks, passing the time. Since she was also researching his cancer, she was often pushed videos like hers by the algorithm.

“I realized it felt so surreal that someone was probably watching my story from within a hospital room or their own situation,” Golan says.

During the interview, Golan adds how her husband’s journey has become an integral part of who she is today. Instead of trying to hide her face, she’s now embracing it. She’s channeling her grief into creativity and is currently working on a new song called “Right Now.” Once released, all proceeds from streaming will go to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation.

“I want people to do things like this when others are at their best — make art, create memories, spend time together and say the hard things while you’re healthy and good,” she adds. “Jeremy was not a person who had any regrets about his life at the end which is a massive gift. He always did things he wanted to do, worked on projects he believed in and never compromised who he was for anyone.”

“What I witnessed was someone who didn’t spend time thinking about what he could have done differently in the end, but someone who remained in the moment he was currently in,” she continues. “His only regrets really were leaving this life early and how it would affect me. I’d want people to know that, and hope they will be inspired to live the same way.”

As for the vase, Golan plans to go and buy fresh flowers to keep in there each week. She adds how since Brennan was cremated, there’s no cemetery where she can visit him, so the vase has become her place of mourning.

“I want to always have it where I can see it, either in my living room or somewhere where it’s displayed,” she says.