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What Rita Wilson Told Husband Tom Hanks After Her Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Be Sad — Then Party!

Tom Hanks Rita Wilson Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson attend The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures Unveiling of the Fully Restored Saban Building at Petersen Automotive Museum on December 4, 2018 in Los Angeles.Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

She said what she felt. Rita Wilson opened up about her 2015 cancer diagnosis in a heartfelt Instagram post on Wednesday, March 27, and revealed what she told her husband, Tom Hanks, when she first got the news — and how it turned into a passion project.

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“Four years ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had so many different thoughts. You’re scared, anxious, you think about your own mortality,” the Mamma Mia! executive producer, 62, captioned a sweet picture of herself laughing with the Cast Away actor, also 62. “So I had a serious discussion with my husband that if anything happens, I wanted him to be super sad for a very long time 😊 and I’d also like a party, a celebration.”

Wilson — who wed Hanks in 1988 — went on to reveal that the conversation she had with her longtime love inspired a new song. “Out of that story, I wrote ‘Throw Me a Party’ with @lizrose0606 and @kristianbush,” she continued. “3 DAYS until my new album #halfwaytohome is released. #throwmeparty #music #singer #songwriter.”

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The My Big Fat Greek Wedding actress, who underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, also took to her Instagram Stories to share a few lyrics from her upcoming single.

“So when I’m gone throw me a party / You should dance as if I was there / Don’t be sad or brokenhearted / Send your voices up in the air,” they read. “Sing my songs and light up the sparklers / Tell my stories and drink all my wine / Know my life is just getting started / When I’m gone / Throw me a party.”

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Wilson and Hanks are parents of two sons, Chet, 28, and Truman, 23. Though the couple’s love is still going strong after more than 30 years of marriage, the actress revealed to Us Weekly in September 2018 that her mom wasn’t so sure about Hanks at first.

“She could not believe that I didn’t marry a Greek man,” Wilson told Us at the time. “But [my parents] thought he looked enough Greek and that he could blend in!” (Hanks ultimately joined the Greek Orthodox Church before he and Wilson married in April 1988.)

The Saving Private Ryan star is also the father of son Colin, 41, and daughter Elizabeth, 36, with his first wife, Samantha Lewes.

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