Man honors late wife on couple's "golden anniversary"

(CNN) -- What would you do to show the love of your life how much they mean to you, even after they're gone? One man shared his love of his late wife on a billboard, for all to see.

Throughout their marriage, Joe Mikolajczak was always big on surprising his wife, Marylou, whom he had married in 1963.

"In any marriage you got keep things going. You gotta inject some kind of, let's say levity into the marriage. Just to see her smile was worth it to me," Mikolajczak said.

Long before their 50th anniversary this month, Mikolajczak hatched a plan to mark the occasion.

"A year-and-a-half ago,  before our 49th, I contracted for the sign," Mikolajczak said.

Mikolajczak had a sign posted on a billboard in honor of his 50-year anniversary with Marylou.

"It was just my way of saying 'I love you,'" Mikolajczak said.

The dates on the billboard don't add up to 50. Instead, they add up to 68, which is how long Marylou lived, before she died in April -- five months shy of their golden anniversary.

"I miss her every day. I cry every day. I cry every night and I should cry. She was a beautiful woman inside and outside," Mikolajczak said.

While Mikolajczak could have cancelled the billboard after Marylou's death, he decided not to -- and even let her in on the secret just before the end.

"About a week before she died, I told her what I was going to do and all she did was look at me and tell me I'm nuts -- but she was worth it. I wanted her to have some sort of recognition," Mikolajczak said.

Mikolajczak said if there's one thing he always knew in their time together, it was this: "You can look around all you want for as long as you want. You'll never fine anyone like her."

Mikolajczak said he wanted everyone to know how much he loved Marylou -- which is why he had the sign posted.