10 Years After Farrah Fawcett Died, Ryan O'Neal Says, 'There Was Never a Day I Didn't Love Her'

Ten years after the death ofFarrah Fawcett,her longtime love, Ryan O’Neal,remembers the golden girl he fell for in 1979. “There was never a day I didn’t love her,” O’Neal, 78, says exclusively in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on stands Friday.

From left: Ryan O’Neal, Farrah Fawcett and their son, Redmond, in 1986.Courtesy Ryan O’Neal

Fawcett and O’Neal, who had a son, Redmond O’Neal, in 1985, never married. They split in 1997 and announced they would jointly raise their son. They reunited in 2001 after O’Neal was diagnosed with leukemia, and Fawcett took care of him. (His leukemia is now in remission.)

O’Neal was known for his volatility, and their union was far from perfect. Still, Fawcett’s close friend Sylvia Dorsey says: “Ryan was the love of her life. I don’t think she was happy without him. They fought and loved with passion. It was never boring. They were electric together.”

Courtesy Ryan O’Neal

Even amidst the sadness of Farrah’s final days, there were a few moments of levity courtesy of O’Neal, the man who could always make her laugh.

“The night before she died, he was talking and talking, leading up to the story of when he first met Farrah,” Murphy says. “It was his way of telling her how much he loved her. She looked over at me and rolled her eyes, and then she smiled.”

Carrie Underwood on the cover of PEOPLE.Randee St. Nicholas

A few weeks before she died, O’Neal had proposed marriage.

On the morning of June 25, 2009, O’Neal took her hand as Farrah took her last breaths.

Fawcett’sCharlie’s Angel’scostar and longtime friend Jaclyn Smith also has warm memories of the once golden couple. “Ryan was the love of her life, and she, his,” she says. “Whether they had a fight or were back together, it was always Ryan. The father of your child. Connected forever.”

source: people.com