'Eat, Pray, Love' Author Elizabeth Gilbert Mourns Death of Partner

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert’s life partner Rayya Elias has died at 57 years [...]

By Kelsey Patterson - January 5, 2018 11:04 am EST

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert's life partner Rayya Elias has died at 57 years old.

Elias, a fellow author, songwriter and short filmmaker, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and liver cancer in spring 2016.

Best-selling novelist Gilbert shared the sorrowful news of her partner's death in a series of statements on social media Thursday.

"She was my love, my heart, my best friend, my teacher, my rebel, my angel, my protector, my challenger, my partner, my muse, my wizard, my surprise, my gift, my comet, my liberator, my rock star, my completely impossible non-cooperator, my otherworldly visitor, my spiritual portal, and my baby," Gilbert wrote to complement a photo of Elias playing guitar.

She was my love, my heart, my best friend, my teacher, my rebel, my angel, my protector, my challenger, my partner, my muse, my wizard, my surprise, my gift, my comet, my liberator, my rock star, my completely impossible non-cooperator, my otherworldly visitor, my spiritual portal, and my baby. I loved you so much, Rayya. Thank you for letting me walk with you right to the edge of the river. It has been the greatest honor of my life. I would tell you to rest in peace, but I know that you always found peace boring. May you rest in excitement. I will always love you.

A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on Jan 4, 2018 at 6:57pm PST

"I loved you so much, Rayya. Thank you for letting me walk with you right to the edge of the river. It has been the greatest honor of my life. I would tell you to rest in peace, but I know that you always found peace boring. May you rest in excitement. I will always love you," she continued in the emotional tribute.

Gilbert shared on Facebook in September 2016 that she had found love with her best friend of 15 years, Elias, just two months after announcing her separation from husband José Nunes.

Last June, Gilbert and Elias celebrated their relationship with a "simple and spontaneous ceremony of love."

Dear Ones: Over the last year, Rayya Elias and I have been through some really difficult days together — but not today. Today was precious and perfect. A simple and spontaneous ceremony of love, surrounded by a small handful of friends and family. Our ceremony was nothing legally binding (no need to alert the authorities, folks!)...just a quiet and private celebration of what we have long known to be true: We belong to each other. More difficult days are to come. It doesn't get easier from here. Her illness is grave. But our love is strong. We will walk together as far as we can go together. After that, it all gets turned over to God. Create beauty with every day you are given, Onward, LG (And thank you, @bindleandkeep, for putting a rush on @rayyaelias's suit, and for hand-delivering it yesterday. She looked beautiful. Thank you for the grace, the care, and the compassion. You are good people.)

A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on Jun 6, 2017 at 2:17pm PDT

Elias detailed her life as a lesbian Middle Eastern woman who moved with her family to the U.S. in 1968 in her 2013 memoir, Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair and Post-Punk. In the book, she also outlined her time as a homeless woman, prison inmate and drug addict.

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