True love can change even the most resolute person
“Marriage is like a vacuum cleaner: you put it to your ear and it sucks all your energy and ambition”. Marlo doesn’t hide her emotions and feelings. She compares marriage to a convict that needs to be appeased.
This is what the famous actress was thinking about marriage, until she met Donahue.
Phil became famous mainly thanks to his “The Phil Donahue Show”. Marlo Thomas happened to be one the guests of the new show. The show changed the man’s life completely.
The first encounter of the couple was in Chicago in 1977. Phil took his 4 children with him.
Marlo’s family and friends were shocked by the actress’ changes of heart and character. The couple’s book recounts a comical anecdote about Marlo’s bachelorette party, where the guests hung up comments from the bride-to-be revealing her former views on marriage.
The novel shows that Marlo’s mother was shocked the most. Throughout the ceremony she asked Donahue, “How did you seduce her into this?”.
Even strangers were confused by the actress’ decision to get married. In the book, Thomas is straightforward and admits that she was still uncertain during this exchange. Was she now a hypocrite by getting married if she had spent so much of her life criticizing marriage? Did she disappoint those who considered her the epitome of independence?
Despite frequent ups and downs, Thomas and Donahue preserved their relationship and love. They look at challenges as opportunities to learn and strengthen their bond.
As they both had their careers, the couple had to spent some time apart in the early period of their marriage.
The couple says, the main guarantee of their marriage is their trust in each other as well as Marlo’s close relationship with his children. The most important thing is to know there’s someone to always have your back.
The couple have been married for many years, and they still have lots of memories to create.
As Phil mentioned, if a couple wants a happy and successful marriage, they should make sure both sides actually want it. His wife agrees with him. Thomas adds she wants nothing more than to be married to Phil.
