Jay Leno, 74, says that taking care of his wife, Mavis, after being diagnosed with dementia is only part of what love is.
During an appearance on today The episode of “In the DE-The With Graham Benser”, the former end of the evening animator spoke of the challenges he was confronted as a caregiver for his wife.
“When I got married, you somehow a wish:” Will I live this? Or will I be like a ladle guy if something happens to my wife, I’m hitting the cashier at the mini-mart? “,” Leno told the host of Podcast Benserger. “No, I didn’t do it. I appreciate the time with my wife. I go home, I cook dinner for her, watch TV, and that’s fine.”
They still do a lot of things they have done before, he said. It’s only now, he has to help him with daily tasks.
“But, I like it. I like to take care of her. She is a very independent woman, so I like it to need it,” said Leno.
The couple met in the 1970s in a comedy club in Los Angeles and married in 1980. They have no children together.
Leno obtained guardianship on the succession of his wife in 2024, according to court documents.
“Well, that’s the challenge, isn’t it? When you have to feed someone and change them and wear them in the bathroom and do all this kind of things every day,” said Leno. “It is a challenge. And it is not that I like to do it, but I suppose that I like to do it.”
In the end, this testifies to her commitment to her and their wishes for marriage.
“At one point in my life, I will be called to defend myself. I think that is really what defines a marriage. I mean, that is really what love is. This is what you do. I mean, I am happy not to have cut and cut. I am happy not to run away with a woman half my age or none of this nonsense. I prefer to be with her.
Leno is not the only celebrity to have talked about the experience of being a caregiver for a loved one.
In a 2019 opinion article for USA Today, Rob Lowe has thought about the experience of intensifying his brothers to take care of their mother after receiving a stadium breast cancer.
“I often felt outdated, and it was even with all the support I had of my brothers and colleagues,” wrote Lowe.
Emma Heming Willis was also opened on her trip taking into account her husband, Bruce Willis, after receiving a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia in 2023.
“You know, I have my moments. It just depends. I hang on and I do my best. And, transforming my pain,” said Heming Willis in a live Instagram in 2023.
As the population is aging, more and more people will probably need help for tasks at a given time in their lives.
According to the CDC, the number of caregivers in the United States increased from 43.5 million in 2015 to around 53 million in 2020.
A Leno representative did not immediately respond to a request for comments sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
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