Elizabeth Edwards dies at 61

Elizabeth Edwards, a Democratic Party activist, a mother, a wife, a brilliant lawyer and much, much more, died today at the age of 61.

I never had a chance to meet Mrs. Edwards, though I read her book, RESILIENCE, and was impressed by it, and I’d heard her cogent political commentary during the 2004 and 2008 elections due to her husband John Edwards having run for the Democratic nomination for President in both election cycles (and having accepted a bid to be John Kerry’s Vice Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party in 2004).  Mrs. Edwards was an advocate for health care for all, and for increased cancer screening and testing — this was partly due to the breast cancer which she’d had for years, and which took her life.

What I think with regards to Elizabeth Edwards is this: she was a fighter.  She did not quit.  She did not give up.  And she did her level best to turn lemons, like her cancer diagnosis, or her teenage son Wade’s death in an automobile accident, or her husband John’s flagrant affair with Rielle Hunter during the 2008 Presidential campaign, into lemonade.

In other words, Elizabeth Edwards was the type of person who didn’t let anything throw her, anything shock her, or anything stop her for very long.  She was a truly admirable woman, someone with a great strength of character.

She will be missed by many, including me.