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'You Are My Sunshine': Man sings to wife of 66 years from hospital bed

Suffering from a blood infection and worried that his time might be running short, a Utah man wanted to make sure his wife of 66 years knew how much she meant to him. In a touching video posted on YouTube, James Pinegar, 86, asks his wife, Colleen, 85, to come closer to his hospital bed. “This is special to me,’’ he says before becoming emotional, warbling, “You are my sunshine, my only su
Utah man James Pinegar sings lovingly to his wife of 66 years from his hospital bed while recovering from a blood infection.
Utah man James Pinegar sings lovingly to his wife of 66 years from his hospital bed while recovering from a blood infection.YouTube

Suffering from a blood infection and worried that his time might be running short, a Utah man wanted to make sure his wife of 66 years knew how much she meant to him.

In a touching video posted on YouTube, James Pinegar, 86, asks his wife, Colleen, 85, to come closer to his hospital bed. “This is special to me,’’ he says before becoming emotional, warbling, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray…” to his wife.

Colleen joins in singing with him while looking into his eyes, providing harmony as the loving couple sings the whole song, finishing with, “Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

The couple from Orem, Utah, then share a tender kiss as a relative off camera aptly sums up the moment by saying, "Now I need a tissue."

The video was filmed by Pinegar's grandson and posted by the Pinegars’ daughter, Linda Whitaker, 60, on Feb. 3. It has since received nearly 300,000 views.

“I was visiting my dad in the hospital, and my son and his wife were there, and he wanted to film his grandpa, who he is very close to,’’ Whitaker told TODAY.com in an email. “My dad is very sentimental and having gotten this blood infection felt his life was short, and that song is their theme song. I had my son put it on (YouTube) so family and friends could see his great love for my mom.”

The good news is that James Pinegar has regained his health after three months of recovery during which Colleen was by his side every day. He initially was hospitalized when he fell on the ice while helping a 90-year-old neighbor who had also slipped and fallen. After undergoing hip replacement surgery, Pinegar developed a blood infection while in the hospital.

“He and my mom are getting along pretty well,’’ Whitaker told TODAY.com. “He has been humbled by how much people have liked the video.”