The other Elizabeth Edwards passes away at age 61

For six years, I’ve had people say to me “oh, your name is ELIZABETH EDWARDS” and then some comment about my husband running for President or more recently, a comment about my cheating husband.   Or they would ask me if it was hard having the same name as a famous person.

Well, yes and no.  The only hard part really has been all the comments. I mean, does every person who has the same first and last name as someone famous for some reason go through it?  I don’t know anyone else who has the same name as someone famous, so I don’t have anyone else to ask.

When I first joined Facebook it was while John Edwards was campaigning for President, and I got a bunch of friend requests with messages that said things like “I love your husband! I hope he gets elected!”.  After a few weeks, the friend requests stopped, until this morning. I woke up to a Facebook inbox full of friend requests and messages from people who were praying for “me”.  I was confused, because I hadn’t watched the news or turned on my computer yet, so I had no idea why all of a sudden I was once again being confused for the other Elizabeth.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004.  After being hospitalized last week for not feeling well over Thanksgiving, her doctors told her yesterday that the cancer had spread to her liver and that further treatment would not help.  I can’t even imagine getting that kind of news.  And yet Ms. Edwards had the strength to post this message to her Facebook wall:

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 towards everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.

From now on, when someone comments on my name, I’m going to reply by saying “yes, isn’t it great that I have the same name as such a great woman?” Rest in Peace, “other” Elizabeth Edwards. You’ll be missed.

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