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A Poem for Elizabeth Edwards, and a Friend

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Douglas Colthurst

A lovely young lady of around forty some odd years, who works for me, just found out she has breast cancer. So she troops up and schedules surgery. Then finds out it has metastasized. To her lungs. No surgery. Prepare for chemo, which she does. Then she finds out it has metastasized to her brain. I am not capable of being the person she is. This is for her. And now we’ve lost Elizabeth Edwards. A brave and endearing soul. Like No Other by victortouche Place a key into the lock upon the door and turn the knob. Let’s see, […]

Elizabeth Edwards’ Eyes

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Kim Go

What interests me about Elizabeth Edwards were her eyes. Perhaps her lovely aquamarine eyes were merely a result of genetic inheritance, but I sense that those eyes were much more than that – that they reflected her inner, transcendent character. Her luminous eyes might also serve us as a lens that we might borrow through which we can view our own challenges. She was, indeed, a bearer of the “gospel of resilience.” The word gospel means “good news.” For all of us who struggle with issues of fidelity, child loss and terminal illness, her story offers numerous symbolic places to […]

Elizabeth Edwards Showed How to Meet Challenges with Humility

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Lauren Muscarella

There is no shortage of “Remembering Elizabeth Edwards” articles. This deluge of information sometimes leads to overload and subsequent dismissal. The passing of a public figure, like with any notable event, is an important opportunity to spend some introspective time alone. I read through many of those articles and finished feeling unsatisfied by the shallow reporting. I have plenty of memories of Elizabeth Edwards’ news stories. Some stories were good, and some of those stories made me wince at how they intruded on her personal life. After her passing, I wanted to take that perspective and go back in time. […]

Elizabeth Edwards: Woman of Grace

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Harriet Hodgson

I identified with Elizabeth Edwards. Like her, I had lost a child. Like her, I was a book author. Like her, I spoke to community groups. For years, I followed Elizabeth on television and admired her from afar. She was truly a woman of laughter, grace and courage. What is courage? According to the dictionary, it is “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., with firmness and without fear.” I don’t know if Elizabeth faced the recurrence of cancer without fear, but television footage shows her smiling and campaigning for her […]

Elizabeth Edwards Up-Close

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Alan Pedersen

In July of 2007, I had the incredible honor of sharing the stage with Elizabeth Edwards. It was the opening ceremony of The Compassionate Friends National Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The original plan was for me to speak briefly and play a couple of songs prior to her speaking, but at the last minute, for security reasons, they decided to flip-flop the order and have her speak and then move to my portion of the program. As I sat on the front row listening to Elizabeth tell her story of losing her oldest son Wade, I was struck by […]

Hating the Holidays

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Mary Westra

The unease creeps in around Halloween. The bags of miniature candy, the masks, the decorations box waiting to be unpacked, lights at the front door, goblins to greet. It’s just not as much fun as it used to be . . . when my toddling Peter dressed as baby blue rabbit took the hand of his older sister in pink pajama sleeper, their sewn on ears at a cocky tilt, and headed out with my husband to haunt the neighborhood. A few years later, he was a curly-white-haired old lady, then in college he wrapped his head in a turban […]

Edwards Children Will Need Adult Help as They Grieve

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Sandra Pesmen

The death of Elizabeth Edwards this week leaves three children without their mother, including two children ages 12 and 10. What can the Edwards family and friends do to help them through their grief? Research by psychoanalysts at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis on The Effects of Early Parent Deaths showed: The most important thing is to make sure the children have time to grieve, are encouraged to talk about their feelings, and are helped to remember their mom. If that doesn’t happen, the children may wall up emotions and enter an “emotional deep freeze” can keep them from enjoying […]

Elizabeth Edwards Demonstrated Grace in Grief

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Kay Bevington

Elizabeth Edwards was not afraid to share her grief journey with others, and bereaved parents could relate to her as she was genuine. I had the opportunity to meet her and also hear her speak at the TCF Conference in Oklahoma City, Okla., a few years ago. Parents appreciated her openness and willingness to talk to everyone. She made her pilot and entourage wait at the airport until she had signed every book and talked to each bereaved parent. Ministering to and being with others like herself was more important to her than political commitments. How many politicians and or […]

Elizabeth Edwards Embodied Warmth

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Ken Druck

Elizabeth Edwards was a voice of compassion, forgiveness, wisdom and strength to bereaved parents around the world for several decades. All of us owe her a measure of gratitude for illuminating the world of what it means to lose a child and live on honorably. I had the honor of meeting her last year as part of a panel discussion on grief led by Maria Shriver at The Governor’s Conference on Women in Long Beach California. Elizabeth was as grief literate as I had imagined but, even more so, she embodied a rare sense of warmth, grace and courage in the way she faced the subsequent losses in her life. I cherished our […]

Dr. Bernie Siegel on the Meaning of Elizabeth Edwards’ Death

Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Bernie Siegel

Why do you think people around the country are so moved by Elizabeth Edwards’ death? What does this tell us about public grief? People fear death and often see it as a failure or lost battle. For her to die in the presence of her family shows that these were not issues for her. She lived the message of love which is the only thing of permanence and and which can make us immortal. What do you think the impact will be on her children, especially the younger ones, who are 12 and 10? The effect is up to what […]