SINGAPORE – Football legend Pele’s widow Marcia Aoki has penned a heartfelt thank-you message a month after his death, saying sharing life with him was a chance to live a true love story.

In the two-page letter, written in Portuguese and posted on the former footballer’s official social media accounts on Sunday, she wrote: “Saying goodbye to someone I love and getting used to not having my reason for living, his love full of affection, his unique humour and his complicity, will take some time...

“I find myself longing for you saying, ‘Marcia, my love, good morning! Look how beautiful the sea is today!’

“Despite knowing that it is an unavoidable destiny for all of us, for me coming to terms with the arrival of this moment feels like part of me is missing and a tightness in my chest.”

She added: “Sharing my life with Edson was a chance to live a true love story.”

Pele, whose real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died in Sao Paulo on Dec 29 at the age of 82 after a lengthy battle against colon cancer. He is the only player to win three World Cups.

He was laid to rest in a 14-storey vertical cemetery with views of the football field that belonged to his beloved Santos, the club that made him a star. The burial was attended by only family members.

Aoki, 56, is Pele’s third wife. He married the Brazilian-Japanese businesswoman in 2016.

In her note, she also thanked fans for their outpouring of love since his death.

“We received millions of messages of affection and solidarity that filled my heart with comfort and peace,” she wrote.