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Elizabeth Edwards in NH in 2007
It’s being widely reported that Westboro Baptist Church, the extremist anti-gay, anti-Jewish, anti-sanity sect led by Pastor Fred Phelps, will have members present and protesting at Elizabeth Edwards’ funeral, scheduled for Saturday. The funeral will be open to the public.
Westboro hasn’t stated why, exactly, it’s protesting Edwards’ funeral. Something about issues in her personal life they object to. But what could they actually object to? That she lost her son? That she had to endure through the indignity of a philandering husband from whom she’s legally separated? That she was diagnosed with terminal cancer while still in her fifties and with young children? Or is it that she has grappled, publicly with her faith in God? Continue reading »
Elizabeth Edwards with her children Jack and Emma on the campaign trail in 2007.
There are some who would suggest, now that Elizabeth Edwards has lost her battle with breast cancer, that the public forget the way her estranged husband, former presidential candidate John Edwards, behaved during their marriage. Personally, I doubt Elizabeth Edwards is among them. After all, she wrote a best-selling book about her husband’s affair in which she stated that she “felt thoroughly and publicly humiliated,” according to The New York Daily News, the same paper that speculated back in May that Edwards was grooming her eldest daughter, Cate, 28, to raise her 12-year-old sister Emma and 10-year-old brother, Jack.
TIME magazine suggests that, “Although the Edwardses were living apart, John Edwards had moved back into their sprawling Chapel Hill, N.C., home as his wife grew sicker. The assumption is that he will raise the children.” They quote Grace Christ, a Columbia University professor and author, as saying, “Having John there is critical for the kids. He has to be there and help them through this. This is a time for the family to come together, to forgive if they can and apologize if they can, to put aside the anger and the resentment for the sake of everyone.”
Yes, but now that their mother is gone, is John Edwards ready, willing and able to raise his kids, 24/7? Continue reading »
Elizabeth Edwards at BlogHer in 2007.
The news of Elizabeth Edwards’ death has truly shocked and saddened the nation. Even while battling breast cancer, Edwards was the driving force behind her estranged husband’s 2008 presidential bid and a great advocate for universal health care. Most importantly, though, she was the loving mother of three children, along with her son Wade, who died in a car accident in 1996 at 16 years old. Edwards had been steadily preparing her young children to deal with her passing, but the death of a parent is not something one can prep for, like a test. At any age, the loss of a parent is a shock to the system that takes years to recover from. Continue reading »
Elizabeth Edwards
My family doesn’t have much in common with the Edwards family. My parents were mild mannered professors who avoided the spotlight. And though my dad was once head of the German Department, he was never a Senator. Nor, for that matter, did he ever run for President. And sure, there may have been a fight or two along the way, but my parents never separated. There was no highly publicized affair. Or any affair, for that matter.
But tonight, my heart goes out to the Edwards clan for the things my family does have in common with them—the things that all families have in common with them. Love and mortality.
Elizabeth Edwards with her children at the 2007 Glamour Magazine "Women of the Year Awards."
A guest post from Dana Rousmaniere:
Just a few days before she died, Elizabeth Edwards made a decision that no mother should ever have to make: to stop her cancer treatments on the advice of her doctors, who said that further treatments would be futile. Edwards, the estranged wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, posted a goodbye letter of sorts on her personal Facebook page:
“You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces — my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined.
The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It’s called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful.
It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.
With love, Elizabeth.”
On Tuesday, People magazine’s Sandra Sobieraj Westfall told Today co-anchor Matt Lauer that Elizabeth Edwards has been preparing her children, Cate, 28, Emma, 12, and Jack, 10, for her death for a long time:
“[Elizabeth started] writing a ‘dying letter,’ so she would have the advice to pass on and always be there with a mother’s wisdom when she couldn’t be there physically.”
As a mother to three children myself, I can’t fathom having to write that “dying letter.” Continue reading »
As people start to pay their respects and offer up their memories of Elizabeth Edwards, who just succumbed to the cancer she publicly battled for years, many of her virtues will be praised: her courage. Her grace under pressure. Her remarkable poise in the face of her husband’s affair. Her openness about her illness. Her wonderful way of being with her kids.
Perhaps her greatest legacy, though, will be her advocacy of universal healthcare.
One tweet, from Roger Ebert, really stood out to me:
Thank u Elizabeth Edwards- & on the day we achieve universal healthcare 4 all Americans, u will b there, & we will thank u again
Elizabeth Edwards dies at age 61
Today Elizabeth Edwards, former wife of one time North Carolina senator John Edwards, lost her six year battle with cancer.
Elizabeth was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, before her husband lost the bid for vice president. She was in remission a few years later, but in 2007 it returned and spread. Her cancer was classified as metastatic stage four cancer, confined mostly to the bones.
The family announced yesterday that Elizabeth’s treatment would end, because it would no longer be productive. She passed away at the family residence in North Carolina.
Here were her last public words, and her family’s statement: Continue reading »
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