For 36 years, the author Jonas Gardell, 59, was and journalist Mark Levengood, 59, a couple. But at the beginning of the year, they announced that they had chosen to separate. The couple has been one of Sweden’s most famous – and most loved – and the shock was great when the news came.
– It became some kind of national mourning, says Jonas Gardell in Efter fem.
– It was a columnist who wrote about how incredibly important Mark and I had been. Truly a declaration of love. And it got a little sad because it felt like we were dead and we weren’t, but then I realized that maybe we were. That is to say, that unit Mark and Jonas, which people have loved, no longer exists, the author continues.
30-40,000 direct messages
And the support from the public was huge. On the same day that the couple opened up about the decision on Instagram, Gardell received 30-40,000 direct messages in which many expressed how they themselves were affected by the separation.
– But now it has been almost a year since we separated and after that many others have separated or separated from their loved ones. And it doesn’t feel right for me to go on and rake in sadness and empathy. Let some others have theirs instead – I’m pretty good.
– We have said that we might remarry when we are 70, he continues, with a twinkle in his eye.
Shared custody of the Pride parade
And just because the couple no longer lives together in a love relationship, the closeness and friendship between them remains.
– We only had dinner here the other day, and on my birthday Mark is toastmaster. And we have decided that we have joint custody of the Pride Parade – so we walk hand in hand there and wave to the people as usual.
New phase in life
But And now that Gardell is entering this new phase in his life, he has decided that he will tour less and instead do all the things he has not yet had time to do in his life.
– I’ve done a hell of a race, and it’s fun! 60 year olds who feel like 25 are stupid in the hood. It hasn’t done anything. You have to live a life worth dying for and I think I have done that. continues the author.
And Gardell has not been on the lazy side. Since his authorial debut in 1979, he has written a number of novels, TV and film scripts, shows and song lyrics.
– But what I am most proud of is that I seem to be someone you can hold by the hand. That one has been married to my songs and buried to them. Being there for each other and someone being there for me is what I’m most proud of and think that’s what we need most, says Gardell.