The marital manual was actually written by Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas.
The long-married pair discusses their union in their book, What Makes a
Marriage Las: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets.
Marlo most curiously confesses that she grew up desiring nothing to do with
marriage while being married to Phil for more than 40 years.
"Marriage is like a vacuum cleaner: you attach it to your ear, and it sucks
away all your energy and ambition," the celebrity said in the book,
expressing her former pessimistic view of the institution.
Thomas expresses her sentiments often, comparing marriage to being a
prisoner that one must appease. Until she met Donahue, that is.
After Phil Donahue's first marriage ended in divorce, they both discovered
Marlo Thomas, and the two have since developed a lifelong connection.
The "Phil Donahue Show," which was subsequently known simply as "Donahue,"
was the vehicle through which Phil Donahue first gained notoriety with the
general public. The program featured audience involvement for the first time
and ran for 29 years. Marlo Thomas was one of the guests on his show who
completely altered the course of his life.
According to the book, the pair first met in Chicago in 1977, and Phil
brought four youngsters with him. A daughter, his fifth kid, resided
somewhere else with his ex-wife and her mother.
Prior to being married in 1980 in front of a small wedding party of 35
guests, Marlo and Phil dated for three years.
Unsurprisingly, the actress's change of heart startled Marlo's friends and
family. In the couple's book, a comical incident is told about Marlo's
bridal shower, where guests hung comments from the future bride that
revealed her former opinions on marriage.
The story claims that Marlo's mother was the most shocked and questioned
Donahue throughout the ceremony, "How did you persuade her to do
this?".
.jpg)
According to reports, even complete strangers expressed disbelief, among
other feelings, at the celebrity and social activist's choice to get
married. While Phil was in the restroom on the plane the couple flew to
their honeymoon in Greece, a woman voiced dissatisfaction to Marlo,
evidently upset that she had given up her former independent spirit.
In the book, Thomas is forthright and admits that a seed of uncertainty was
planted during this exchange. Was she now a hypocrite for getting married
since she had spent so much of her life criticizing marriage? Had she
disappointed those who looked up to her as the epitome of
independence?
Despite the regular ups and downs they mention in the book while discussing
their protracted marriage, Donahue and Thomas are nevertheless able to
maintain their marriage. They describe these problems as teaching moments
that made their relationship stronger.
Even in their early years of marriage, the pair had to spend time apart as
Marlo traveled for her acting career and Phil filmed his program in
Chicago.
When Thomas' aunt remarked that the couple's union was invalid since they
weren't completely cohabitating, Thomas was better able to see how various
people interpret marriage.
Thomas and Donahue were able to maintain their marriage despite their
separation. Importantly, Marlo also got children when she married.
Thomas reminisced on what it was like to assist Phil in raising his
children in a 2012 interview with AARP, saying she went into it knowing that
they already had a conventional mother and that would not be her job.
Instead, Marlo says that in attempt to emulate her own mother's parenting,
she started to treat Phil's kids more like friends. She goes on to claim
that she feels closer to them now than she did when the marriage first
began.
Donahue notes that Thomas did in fact spend as much time as she could in
the talk getting to know his sons and trying to comprehend the lads in the
book.
Phil and Marlo think their lengthy marriage is due to their faith in one
another, in addition to her close bond with his children. You develop trust
when you know that someone always has your back, Marlo says.
They still have more memories to create after having been married for more
than 40 years.
Phil continues by saying that for a marriage to last, both partners must
want it to. Marlo agrees with him and adds that she would never want to be
anything other than wedded to her boyfriend. Donohue has helped her in
"every manner conceivable," according to her, she says.
Marriage is a lovely union that is made much more beautiful when two
individuals genuinely commit to it.
We can all learn a lot from and be inspired by this duo. We should all
aspire to be in a relationship that is as fulfilling as theirs!
Tags:
celebrity