Late Tuesday, we got word that Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former North Carolina senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, had died. In March of 2009, I had the opportunity to do a one-on-one interview with Mrs. Edwards. I thought she was a remarkable person, very down to earth and surprisingly upbeat, considering the breast cancer that had been ravaging her body since 2004.
Her death came as such sad news. As one whose own family has been devastated by cancer, I know too well what she and her family have gone through over the past six years.
Mrs. Edwards was a tireless advocate for cancer patients and survivors and an inspiration to millions. She was often praised for the courage and grace she showed in her fight with the disease, while she insisted that she wasn't really all that courageous.
"What are my choices here?" she said in her interview with me. "I could curl up in a ball or I could decide to live as fully as I can and I actually think I'm taking the easy way out."
It's exactly that attitude that made Elizabeth Edwards so inspiring. May she rest in peace.
