52 years married and still in love with his wife, that was the picture actor Alan Alda presented in a recent interview with Andrew Denton.
These are some of the things that impressed me in that interview with the 73 year old actor. Firstly, that he and his wife Arlene have been married 52 years. In Hollywood and the entertainment industry at large, that in itself is a major achievement.
Alan Alda suggested that when looking for a life partner (and that tells you something about the way he views marriage – as a life commitment) ‘your life partner makes you a better person.’ That is certainly the way he sees his wife. According to Alda, his wife makes him a better person. She is like the keel of a boat that keeps him from being blown off course. He even went so far as to call her his ‘salvation.’
When asked what he valued about his wife he said, ‘her humor, affection and that she’s smarter than me.’ He is grateful for the person she is.
Alda came from a background as the child of parents who divorced, and a mother who suffered mental illness. Culturally his wife is Jewish, while he is not. So you could perhaps say he had some things in his background working against him yet he has maintained a strong marriage. And it shows.
When asked to bring in something that means something to him Alda brought in a photograph of his wife. You could tell so much from that about how important she is in his life. It shows his wife Arlene in a laughing playful moment.
Alda’s view of marriage is that there should be playfulness, creativity and pleasing others.
I thought it was a beautiful picture of a marriage and a man still deeply in love with his wife. It’s the sort of positive example our world need to see more often.
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