Jill Brooke writing at HuffPo:
…I last saw Nora Ephron earlier this year at the memorial for best-selling author Charla Krupp, who shocked her circle of loyal devoted friends by never divulging her terminal illness. While Nora was behind me as we signed our names on the guest book, a few friends, with tear rimmed eyes, came up to us questioning how anyone could keep a terminal illness secret or would want to make that choice. “We live in the age of the Internet where everyone tells everyone everything,” cried one friend.
“The credit should go to a good marriage,” I said, referring to Charla’s partnership to Time magazine’s theater critic Richard Zoglin. “How lucky was she that her husband’s love was enough that she didn’t need anyone else.”
I then turned to Nora and for some inexplicable reason said, “Don’t you agree?” In owl-like black sunglasses, the celebrated writer of romantic comedies like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally nodded her head and whispered, “That is so true.” Only now I realize she most likely was thinking of her own husband, writer Nick Pileggi, whose quiet unwavering support gave her the protective cocoon to keep her secret intact — even from her children…
Categories: Aging, Disability, Death, Dying, Marriage
If I was ill and this was possible it’s the route I would take. I don’t care to be weak or needy in front of anyone. Plus you end up expending energy making other people feel better about you dying. Which is creepy.
What a beautiful story in the blog.
I like this quote:
“But want to see passion at its sexiest? For me, it is witnessing the long-term marriages of couples whose passion for loyalty and the respect for their history together endures so that each spouse can feel safe and not judged during times of weakness. Long term marriages are the real love stories of our time.”
Long term marriages are something that should be cherished and loved. I hope that I would have this kind of marriage too.