Michael J. Fox understands the toll that his years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease has taken on his wife, Tracy Pollan.
On Thursday, the Back to the Future star sat down with CBS Mornings, and opened up about the support he’s received from his wife of 35 years, amid his battle with the brain disorder.
“It’s been great for me, I don’t know how it is for her,” he quipped to Nate Burleson. “I love Tracy obviously and she’s an amazing person and has gone through a lot. I realize she has a life separate from me having Parkinson’s, from me being Alex Keaton or Marty McFly, she’s a person. I think that’s why it’s gone OK.”
Fox, 62, and Pollan, 63, met on the set of Family Ties, and tied the knot in 1988. Together, the couple shares four children — Sam, 34, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, 28, and Esmé, 21. In July, the happy couple celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary.
The Teen Wolf star said that he recognizes that Pollan made a vow to him and has upheld every word.
“She had indicated to me by saying in for better or for worse, in sickness and in health,” he said. “She was able to get me through it, and go through it with me. And she has for 35 years.”
He added, “We knew the bus was coming and we knew it was going to hit, but we didn’t know how far away it was or how fast it was going.”
Still, Pollan has remained a vocal advocate for Fox.
“At any time she would have been forgiven to say, ‘I’m just gonna step out.’ But, she didn’t do that,” he said.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991, and spoke about remaining optimistic, despite living with the debilitating disorder.
“The opposite of fear is faith,” he said.
“Positivity is really sincere and I really feel good and it’s genuine,” he said about facing the hard days. “But it’s hard fought and it’s hard won I should say. This fear, we can find ways to just give ourselves a break, give ourselves credit for getting through life, on life’s journeys. In order to do that, you have to stop and say, ‘It’s not that bad.'”
While there is no cure for the disease, Fox celebrates the breakthroughs in research that have been made in recent years.
“There’s not a cure, but it’s a big spotlight on where we need to go and what we need to focus on,” he said. “We know we’re on the right path.”
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