Elizabeth Edwards Dies of Cancer at Age 61

(USA Today) Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of John Edwards, former North Carolina Senator and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, died Tuesday at her home in Chapel Hill, N.C..  She was 61 years old.  She had endured a lot of adversity throughout her marriage with the death of her and John Edward's oldest son Wade, in a jeep crash in 1996 at the age of 16.  In 2004 following the presidential election the day after, she found out that she had breast cancer.  In 2007, as John Edwards was preparing a second bid for the presidency in 2008, the cancer recurred.  Then in 2009 he acknowledged he was having an affair with his campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter.  He denied it when the allegations first came, then he admitted he fathered her child.  Later on Elizabeth and John both split up.  They never divorced.  She faced a rough battle with the cancer. 

Edwards was born in Jacksonville, FL on July 3, 1949.  She was a military brat who grew up moving from place to place.  Her father was a navy pilot.  She spent part of her time growing up in Japan.  Elizabeth graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and stayed on to study English and then law.  It was in law school that she met John Edwards and they married in 1977.  She practiced law until 1996, when her son Wade lost control of his jeep and was killed in a crash.  Following their son's death, the Edwards decided to have more children, which required difficult hormone treatments given the fact she was in her upper 40's.  She had Claire at age 48 and Jack when she was 50.  She had a total of four children.  She has three living children: an adult daughter, Cate, and two young children, Jack and Emma. 

Elizabeth Edwards had written a memoir before she died entitled, "Resilience."  She said "The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," she wrote in a note posted Monday on Facebook, after doctors told her that she had at best weeks to live.  "We know that.  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."