This Is Why Sharon Summerall’s Marriage Lasted So Long and More About Her Battle With Multiple Sclerosis
Image source

When Sharon Summerall and her husband, who has been married for over two decades, met in the early 1990s, it was a story of love and adventure for both of them. For Don Henley, it was the dawn of hope after several heartaches and setbacks that almost brought his career to a standstill. No wonder that the Grammy-winning musician wrote the song Everything Is Different Now for his wife. For Summerall, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis just days before her encounter, love could not have come at a better time. Fans are now wondering how this prominent couple has been able to bring things together for almost three decades. Let’s go through their journey.

Who is Sharon Summerall?

Sharon Summerall was born in Texas, United States. Although not much is known about her childhood, her early education, and her family, we do know that she spent her early days in her birthplace and that her father was a farmer.

Summerall began her modeling career in the early 1980s, and her big breakthrough came in 1985 when she worked with top-of-the-line modeling outfits (in Paris and Chicago, Illinois) like Eva Models and Elite. As a young model, she still had many productive years ahead of her, but in the early 1990s, a tragedy struck when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For this sole reason, she had no choice but to put the brakes on her career for the time being. Over the years, not much was known about what Summerall did for a living, except that we could see her as a supportive wife for her husband and his successful musical career.

This Is Why Sharon Summerall’s Marriage Lasted So Long and More About Her Battle With Multiple Sclerosis

Her Relationship with Don Henley

How it All Began

Sharon Summerall and her husband, Don Henley, met at an important crossroads in their lives. It was 1994, and Summerall’s discovery of her medical condition had put her career and other life prospects on hold. It was not a death sentence in itself, but it was not an illness that a modeling career could overcome. So when she found love in the arms of the musician, it was more than just matchmaking, it was a life-changing decision for the young beauty. For Don Henley, several separations and lovesickness had marked the musician. Moreover, the aftershock of his alleged scandal with a naked minor found in his house was still fresh. Henley was charged and subsequently fined before being released on parole. That was in 1980.

ALSO READ: Cindy Millican Biography, Age, Married, Husband, Divorce, Children, Family

Although the incident was long over, the failed relationships were another bitter pillage. Before he met Summerall, Henley had dated and broken up with some of Hollywood’s most beautiful women, including Lois Chiles. His first fling was with Loree Rodkin in 1974. By the end of 1975, Henley already had a relationship with Stevie Nicks, the singer of Fleetwood Mac, which was repeatedly exposed. But in 1977 they went their separate ways. In all these cases Henley claimed that he did not want marriage but someone he could really love. In the early 1980s Henley dated and even got engaged to Battlestar Galactica actress Maren Jensen. However, it was a near collision when the engagement was dissolved in 1986. Taken together, these experiences had left Don Henley with scars and heartache until he found what he called “True Love” in 1993.

This Is Why Sharon Summerall’s Marriage Lasted So Long and More About Her Battle With Multiple Sclerosis

Although it is not clear where and how they met, it is likely that the couple met at a social event. Both were prominent personalities at the time, Summerall being the more popular one. It was love at first sight. At least for Henley. After dating for two years, they went one step further with an engagement. Months later, on May 20, 1995, in a ceremony studded with stars, they exchanged their vows.

Some of the big names present were Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Sting, Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Tony Bennett, and Sheryl Crow. Inspired by his newfound love, Henley later wrote the song “Everything Is Different Now” on his 2000 album Inside Job, dedicated to his wife Sharon Summerall.

How Did They Stick Together For This Long?

In 2025 it would be thirty full thirty years since they have been married, and that is a long time to stay married at this age. We believe that the two of them have found a way to overcome their differences and, above all, they are increasingly determined to fight for their marriage and not to let anything stand in their way. While Summerall acts as a housekeeper, her husband goes out to rock the world with his music and returns with great benefits. No wonder he was ranked fourth richest drummer in the USA. The couple admits that through mutual understanding they have endured through the thick and thin of marriage and have learned to forgive each other willingly.

Who are their Children?

This Is Why Sharon Summerall’s Marriage Lasted So Long and More About Her Battle With Multiple Sclerosis

Summerall and Henley have three children. Their oldest daughter, Annabel, was born on December 17, 1995. The couple later had another daughter, Julia, and then a son, Will. In an interview, Henley said that he and Summerall wanted their children to grow up like normal children. So they moved away from Hollywood and moved west to Dallas, Texas, where they raised their family. The couple seems to place a high value on their children’s education. According to Henley, they all went to elementary school, just twenty minutes from home, and to keep things on track, he was even on the school board at the time. While some may see this as a kind of helicopter education, Henley and his wife deliberately want to raise well-rounded adults. At the time of writing, they still live in Texas, although Henley owns another property in Hollywood, California.

ALSO READ: Puzzling Details of Alexia Barroso’s Relationship With Her Fathers and What She Is Up To Now

Her Struggle with Multiple Sclerosis: The Journey so Far

Their fight against multiple sclerosis: The journey so far
In the early 1990s, Sharon Summerall first discovered that the complications she experienced were the earliest signs of multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects the central nervous system. It causes disturbances in the flow of information within the human brain and between the brain and the body. The root cause of the disease is still unknown, but studies show that a mixture of genetic and environmental factors could be involved.

Patients may experience mild symptoms such as blurred vision or more severe cases of impaired walking. However, the severity of the disease depends on the nerves affected and the degree of damage to these nerves. So far, there is no medical cure for the disease, except treatments that can help manage the symptoms and contain the attacks, and that is exactly what Sharon Summerall has been doing for the last two decades. According to the first model, she has good weeks, bad weeks, and really bad weeks. But the support of her family has made all this bearable for her.