Heartbreaking Tearjerker of the Day

Shane Bitney Crone posted his devastating video of love and loss, "It Could Happen To You," online in May on the anniversary of his partner Tom Bridegroom's death. Since then, it has been viewed more than 2.7 million times, and inspired some 50,000 comments on YouTube and Facebook. Now it's just nine days away from receiving the funding needed to turn the couple's touching story into a feature-length documentary -- Bridegroom: An American Love Story. Director Linda Bloodworth Thomason first met the couple at a gay wedding ceremony in Palm Springs:

That night, a couple of unforgettable young men named Shane and Tom joined my table. I learned they were Designing Women fans, madly in love and literally brimming with all their big plans for an exciting life together. Sadly, that possibility ended when Tom was killed in an accident last year. When I heard the news, I was haunted by the sheer weight of Shane's loss. Even though I barely knew them, their good-hearted demeanors and earnest love had made an indelible impression on me.

She saw Crone's video a few weeks ago and "was deeply touched. And angered. I called Shane [and] told him I wanted to make a documentary that would tell his and Tom's love story from beginning to end." [dailydot]