• About
    • Family Pictures
    • Meadow Flowers
  • Books
  • Contrarianisms
  • Quotations
  • Words of Inspiration
  • Our Ideology

Existential Ennui

~ Searching for Meaning Amid the Chaos

Existential Ennui

Daily Archives: December 8, 2010

Dear Elizabeth

08 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Sherry in Editorials, Feminism, Inspirational, Women's issues

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Elizabeth Edwards, Inspirational

I, like many, heard a day or so ago that Elizabeth Edwards had taken a turn for the worse. I had no idea time would be so short. I was so deeply saddened to learn of her death yesterday.

I have not spent much time learning a lot about Mrs. Edwards, yet I felt I knew her. She was that kind of woman, open and seemingly honest. She seemed stronger that I could ever hope to be, courageous in her battle with cancer, and elegant as she suffered the humiliation of her husband’s unforgivable behavior.

I say his behavior was unforgivable,  but I suspect she forgave him, if only for the sake of her children who now look to him as sole parent. I can think of no worse betrayal than to cheat on a spouse who is in the throes of a life-threatening illness, or who has become seriously incapacitated. At a time when a husband or wife needs their partner as never before, John was off giggling like a randy thirteen-year-old, leaving Elizabeth to go it alone.

I am sure that like every marriage, there were ups and downs, and perhaps deeply flawed personalities on both side. That is not the issue for me. It is simply that you just don’t do that to any human, let alone one you have spent decades with, walking away emotionally to dally with someone else.

Don’t start telling me about how such a caregiver partner can be drained and susceptible to the warm arms of another. It’s a matter of maturity and acting as an adult. Surely in that moment, John Edwards showed us he was in no way suited to lead a nation. He had lost his moral compass.

Elizabeth, publicly, held up her head and honestly confronted the challenges before her. She carried on. No doubt there were plenty of times when she broke down away from cameras and perhaps even family. One can only guess, and sympathize.

She indeed serves as a role model to other women of how to get on about the business of living in the face of fatal disease, in the face of the dissolution of a marriage that from the outside had looked rock solid. We can, again, only guess, of what it appeared to her from the inside.

It seems she devoted her remaining months to helping other women struck down with cancer, and, more importantly planning and preparing her children for the time when she would leave them. I suspect they are handling this much better than many of us.

She said that the death of her sixteen-year-old son, Wade, prepared her for her own death in some ways. Nothing could ever be as bad as that had been. And I suspect she truly believed she would join him at last. She said she didn’t fear death nearly as much as she would have otherwise.

None of us, rich, poor, accomplished or not, knows when our next trial will arrive and how severe it will be. We can remember Elizabeth and give life to her legacy by remembering the grace and quiet dignity she brought to the ugly business of dying. She showed us, as few others do, that in dying, we can learn better to live.

She lived these last few months, it appears, fully, connected at every moment to her family, her friends, her world. She helped everyone around her, it appears, make peace with the inevitable end to come.

I shall miss her occasional public pronouncements, championing health care, and breast cancer awareness. I shall miss her laugh, and I shall miss her honest embrace of all life-the good and the bad.

Blessings and safe journey, Elizabeth.

Related Articles
  • Reactions to Elizabeth Edwards’ Death (abcnews.go.com)
  • Elizabeth Edwards: Resilience Remembered (npr.org)
  • Elizabeth Edwards dies at 61 (boston.com)
  • Elizabeth Edwards and Her Final Days in Hospice Care (politicsdaily.com)

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Who We Are

Thinking non-stop since April 15, 1950. We search for meaning amid the chaos.

Giggles

Laugh as Long as You Can

Subscribe

Subscribe in a reader

Donations Joyfully Accepted

Calendar

December 2010
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Nov   Jan »

Follow Me!

Follow afeatheradrift on Twitter

Facebook

Sherry Peyton
Sherry Peyton
Create Your Badge

Words of Wisdom

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die. ~~Sen. Edward M. Kennedy~~

Recent Posts

  • We moved to Blogger
  • Moving to Blogger
  • Christianist Doublespeak
  • Next Week I’m Gonna Start Biting People
  • Time to Report for Retirement
  • The Best Little Whorehouse in Boulder? Or How I Loved to Learn Republicanese Gangsta Style
  • The Power of the Post
  • The Exceptionalism of the United States of America
  • Can We Stop With the Illegals Shit?
  • I Laughed, I Cried, I Spat Epithets, I Chewed the Rug
  • *Temporarily Asphyxiated With Stupid
  • Are You Having Trouble Hearing? Or is That Gum in Your Ear?
  • Collecting Dust Bunnies Among the Stars
  • Millennial Falcon Returning From Hyperbole
  • Opening a Box of Spiders

A Second Blog

  • Extraordinary Words
  • What's on the Stove?

History Sources

  • Encyclopedia Romana

The Subjects of My Interest

Drop the I Word

We Support OWS

Archives

The Hobo Jesus

Jesushobo With much thanks to Tim
Site Meter

Integrity

Twitter Updates

  • @realDonaldTrump #YOUREFIRED 1 year ago
  • Tales From the Pandemic acrazyladyblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/09/tal… 2 years ago
  • @MarshaBlackburn Stop the racism trumpish cultist 2 years ago
  • @realDonaldTrump NEVER you asshat. We await your removal via straight jacket and handcuffs. 3 years ago
  • Melanie says women's claim of sexual assault not suff evidence,. Women's voices minimized. She's as sick as tRump.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 3 years ago

World Visitors

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Existential Ennui
    • Join 2,850 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Existential Ennui
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: