You’ve built a successful career in news and making people laugh, but at home, you’ve faced circumstances that are anything but funny. How do you reconcile being the person who brings laughter to thousands while privately navigating fear, uncertainty, and the emotional weight of your wife’s health challenges?
It’s impossible for one not to bleed into the other. There are times I’m supposed to be funny, and circumstances are such that I want to be anything but. Then there are times that are extremely heavy, and I can’t resist a horrifically dark joke. That tension is constant and always will be. I think the best I can do is react to what feels most natural, depending on the situation, of course. Some doctors don’t appreciate a well-timed boob joke when discussing your wife’s breast cancer treatment (she does, by the way).
Explain what caregiving has taught you about love that you might not have fully understood before Amy became ill.
Ultimately, love is a choice. It’s not feelings or emotions. It’s a choice you have to make every single day, sometimes multiple times per day. I think that’s true in any marriage, but especially one where there is some degree of struggle all the time. Because the love you knew when you were 23 and all over each other is a lot different than the love you experience 25 years later when you’re talking about prescription drug prices. If you’re not still all-in, it will never work.