Despite heartbreak and homelessness, Meryl Streep found genuine love with the father of her four children. The Hollywood diva lost her real love, yet she married and had a child six months later.

Meryl Streep, a professional actress, met Don Gummer, her forty-year husband, in early 1978, but their meeting was terrible.

Streep had been at the hospital with her two-year-old boyfriend, actor John Cazale, who died at the time.

Streep ran across Cazale while attending a Shakespeare in the Park audition. In addition, they played against each other in “Measure for Measure.”

Off-screen, their affair bloomed quickly, and Streep soon moved into her lover’s Tribeca apartment. She told Michael Schulman, a biographer, that Cazale was unique:

“He was unlike anyone I had ever met,” I said.

When the couple learned that Cazale had terminal lung cancer that had spread throughout his body in May 1977, things took a bad turn.

Streep made every effort to be able to take care of her significant other. The New Jersey native decided to join him in the movie “The Deer Hunter” because he needed to be nearer to him.

Sadly, Cazale did not live to see the result. Despite months of treatment, his cancer eventually spread to his bones.

Despite her best efforts to maintain regular communication with the Massachusetts native, Streep admitted that she was unaware that his health had deteriorated.

Cazale died on March 12, 1978, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Medical Center in New York. Streep, who was 29 at the time, had not left his house since he was sent to the hospital.

According to Schulman’s description of the couple’s final minutes before Cazale died, Streep refused to accept that the love of her life was dying.

He briefly “opened his eyes” and assured her that she would be alright while she screamed and pounded on his chest, according to Schulman in “Her Again – Becoming Meryl Streep.”

The relationship between Streep and “The Godfather” star was passionate, physical, and obvious on set, according to Joe Papp, the director of Shakespeare in the Park, and Schulman.

Cazale’s partner supported him throughout his declining health for five months and went with him to his chemotherapy sessions.

Director of “The Deer Hunter,” Michael Cimino, revealed to People in 1995 that Streep was brave because of her commitment to Cazale, saying, “Meryl stayed by his side every single moment.”

The Academy Award winner was next to Cazale in his Manhattan apartment when he was confined to bed, performing comedy routines and reading the newspaper aloud.

Papp remarked that despite knowing he would pass away eventually, Streep showed Cazale love unlike anybody else and “gave him immense hope.”

In an interview with People a year after Cazale’s death, the “Mamma Mia!” star revealed that it had lingered with her and pushed her to consider her own demise. Streep stated that the humbling experience changed her perspective on some topics.

Streep moved to Canada to live with a friend after her partner died. When she got back to New York, she was told she had to leave the apartment they shared.

The “It’s Complicated” actress’ brother assisted her with packing and brought along Don Gummer, a sculptor who lived close by and had previously met Streep.

Gummer asked Streep to stay in his Soho apartment while he was abroad since he intended to travel outside of the nation. The two spoke via writing back and forth during that time, and their relationship grew from there.

According to reports, Streep was hesitant to explore another relationship but was persuaded to do so by a widower acquaintance, but only if she liked him.

Streep remained at the house after Gummer left. Six months later, on September 30, 1978, the pair walked down the aisle.

The wedding took place at Streep’s parents’ garden on Mason’s Island, Connecticut. Her mother, on the other hand, was disappointed with how rapidly the new friendship blossomed.

Regardless, Streep and Gummer chose to stay together and start a family, eventually having three daughters and a son. Henry, the couple’s eldest child, was born in November 1979 and pursued a career in show industry as well.

Henry is a musician as well as an actor, having appeared in films such as “The Wait” and “Lying.” After graduating from Dartmouth College in 2002, he began a musical career and formed the independent band Bravo Silva. He went solo when the band split. The couple’s daughter is Ida June Gummer, and they are married to Tamryn Stronm Hawker.

Mary, who goes by the stage name Mamie, was born in August 1983 and is Streep and Gummer’s second child. She became an actress like her mother before her.

Mamie played Emily Owens in the drama series “Emily Owens, M.D.” and Nancy Crozier in “The Good Wife.” Northwestern University is where Mary completed her theater and communications studies in 2005. The TV personality is wed to Mehar Sethi, and the two of them have a son.

Grace, Gummer and Streep’s third child, was born in May 1986. Grace followed in the footsteps of her siblings and well-known mother and pursued a career as an actress.

Before breaking into Hollywood, she attended Vassar College, where she got degrees in Italian and Art History in 2008. Grace made her acting debut in “The House of the Spirits,” playing a younger version of her mother’s part. The native New Yorker was divorced twice, and both marriages ended in divorce.

Louisa, the family’s youngest child, was born in June 1991. Louisa is a model and actor. She, like her mother and sister Grace, attended Vassar College and graduated with a psychology degree in 2013.

After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Louisa obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Acting. She has acted in several plays and had her television debut in “The Gilded Age” on HBO.

In a January 2017 interview with The Guardian, Streep stated that her acting career allowed her to spend more time with her children, which she would not have been able to do if she had a desk job.

She added that she never chose her job based on her proximity to her family, but rather achieved a compromise. Streep says she “always tried to stay challenged, work extremely hard, and yet keep my hand in and stir the pot at home.”

The mother of four is an active mom, according to Good Housekeeping. In July 2008, she revealed to the publication that she lectures her children rather than “listening” to them:

“I teach my kids instead of listening to them. giving lectures and placing takeout.”

Being a mother and a wife, according to Streep, requires “balance,” and she added that it is “a struggle, but the best sort of challenge.” The movie legend and her family spent 25 years residing in Connecticut, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Despite her popularity, she was able to maintain a private life, attending luncheons with other mothers and participating in school activities. That period was one of “the happiest occasions” in her life, according to Streep.

After her youngest child with Gummer fled the nest a few years ago, the couple relocated to New York City. To feel less “guilty” about always traveling for business, Streep claimed she was lucky to have a husband who was “always pleased to look after the children.”

The Golden Globe winner is convinced that her professional and family decisions were well-considered, and she has no regrets about advancing her profession.

She began crying when praising her loving spouse in her acceptance speech for “The Iron Lady” star’s Oscar victory for Best Leading Actress in a Role in 2012.

“First and foremost, I’d like to thank Don. “I want him to understand that you’ve given me everything I value most in our lives,” Streep added as she spoke.