Obama's Farewell to Stephen Hawking Will Absolutely Break Your Heart

Barack Obama has always had a way with words, and after news broke that one of the greatest minds of a generation, Stephen Hawking, had passed away on March 13, the former president tweeted out a heartbreaking farewell that has left everyone on the internet in tears.

"Have fun out there among the stars," Obama tweeted along with a photo from when he awarded Hawking with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Obama is the latest high-profile individual to weigh in on the devastating loss of the scientist, a man who forever changed the world with his groundbreaking work across a number of disciplines.

Despite being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 1963, Hawking spent more than a half century continuing on with his work — even going so far as to use a computer to enable him to continue speaking to others after being paralyzed. He was also a fierce critic of President Donald Trump, saying back in 2016 that the current president "will cause avoidable environmental damage" by continuing to deny climate change and withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement.

Hawking passed away at the age of 76. "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today," his family said in a statement, adding, "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years."