Peter Gallagher and his wife Paula Harwood recently celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary, a milestone not often reached by celebrity couples.
But The O.C. alum recently admitted he finds it “embarrassing” to talk about milestone anniversaries, which is why he tends to keep those celebrations private.
“God, it sounds so embarrassing when you’re in show business, but yes, it’s true,” he said during the latest episode of the New York Times’ Modern Love podcast. “Just that it’s not something you hear every day, and it’s not something I ever really am interested in promoting because I always feel like that people say, ‘Oh, you know how long we’ve been married?'”
He further explained how once the media finds out how long a couple has been together, it’ll be all anyone talks about but “then six months later, they’re on the rocks.”
Gallagher believes it’s “dangerous” to talk about milestone anniversaries.
“It’s not immutable. It’s a living, breathing thing.”
In order to survive a marriage of four decades, Gallagher’s best advice is to not get a divorce.
“So much of life including love and work and the choices you make is built more on suspicion than certainty,” he added. “And it’s being able to listen to those subterranean streams that are talking to you and you kind of hope you’re going in the right direction but there’s very little certainty I think.”
Gallagher met Harwood during their first year at Tufts University. The couple got married on May 7, 1983. They share two adult children, Kathryn, 30, and James, 27.
Congratulations to Peter and Paula! Forty-one years of marriage is a huge accomplishment and definitely something worth celebrating.
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