The support for Bruce Jenner poured in following the
Olympian/reality star's emotional interview with Diane Sawyer about his gender
identity. Now, one more member of his family, second wife Linda Thompson, is
sharing more than just a tweet. The actress, who was married to Jenner from
1981 to 1986, wrote an essay in Huffington Post that tells what it was like to
be married to Jenner and later learn of his secret torment.
"Bruce's story and his struggle are uniquely
his; my experiences with Bruce are commensurately uniquely my own,"
Thompson writes, after praising him as a "trailblazer for the civil rights
of the transgender community."
She begins with a pretty romantic story,
telling of how she first admired Jenner from afar, while still dating Elvis
Presley, and finally met him at a charity tennis event held at the Playboy
Mansion, of all places. She expresses the joy of having sons Brandon and Brody,
and spending time with his two children from his first marriage.
But when Brody
was just 18 months old, Bruce told Thompson the truth about what he'd been
going through. Her immediate reaction was to seek out therapy to
"fix" the issue. The therapist they found "was a lovely woman
who very calmly, and as gently as she could, massacred me with the information
that broke my heart into a million pieces." At the time, Jenner was
seriously considering gender reassignment surgery, and discussed the
possibility of re-entering his sons' lives as "Aunt Heather."
While sharing the devastation she experienced
at the end of her marriage, Thompson emphasizes, "I was also empathetic
to, and mourned for, the pain that Bruce had experienced every day of his life."
In his interview with Diane Sawyer, Jenner said he
decided not to go through with the transition in the '80s for the sake of his
children. And, as we well know, he went on to marry Kris Jenner. Thompson
describes those years as particularly painful for her sons, as their father
didn't see them for years at a time. Her explanation to Brandon for this
behavior is truly heartbreaking on all sides: "Honey, your dad may have
been the world's greatest athlete physically, but emotionally, you have to view
him in a wheelchair. If he had emotional legs, he'd get up and walk to you, but
he just doesn't right now. Just try to understand him, love and forgive
him."
Since then, relations between all involved have
clearly warmed up. And, Thompson concludes her piece with a beautiful sentiment.
"I pray we may all challenge ourselves to delve into the deepest resources
of our hearts to cultivate an atmosphere of understanding, acceptance,
tolerance, and compassion. We are all in this life together."
Bruce Jenner's Family Beautifully Reacts To Diane Sawyer Interview