Former Dallas star Patrick Duffy says that while his wife Carlyn passed away two years ago, he still considers himself a married man. (Photo: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)

Patrick Duffy’s wife Carlyn Rosser may have passed away two years ago, but the former Dallas and Step by Step star still considers himself a married man.

“I can hear her. I can see her,” Duffy, 70, exclusively told Closer Weekly of Rosser, to whom he was married for 43 years. “I know what she would expect of me, and I try and live up to that. I feel close to her all the time [but] what I miss most is her touch. I still consider myself a married man.”

Duffy spoke to the magazine on October 22 at the “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” holiday party in Los Angeles.

The couple’s love story is a tremendous one. Duffy was “an immature college graduate touring as narrator with this dance production, and she was a beautiful ballerina 10 years older.” But when they met on a tour bus, “that was it — for life.”

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When Carlyn died two years ago at age 77, “It was a surprise when she passed. There was no indication. So that was the big adjustment,” says Duffy. And while the grief he feels is overwhelming, he says the love of his two sons, Padraic, 45, and Conor, 39, is a tremendous help.

“My boys were there as stalwarts. But I also realized that, as much as they were trying to buttress old Dad up, I’m probably more adjusted to this set of circumstances than they are,” Duffy added. “You reach a certain age and you realize the road ahead is much shorter than the road behind.”

View photos Patrick Duffy spoke lovingly of his late wife Carlyn Rosser. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images) More

Duffy says he’s working hard to find peace.

“There are no mistakes in life. I can mend every fence I’ve broken and create value out of everything I’ve done if I’m given enough time,” he said. “I have done and I still am doing OK. I have worked hard to make the best of life, and it’s been good to me.”

The Dallas and Step by Step alum will also head back to TV screens this holiday season when he stars as Kellie Pickler’s father in the upcoming Hallmark film The Mistletoe Secret.

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