Author Q&A, Part 2

Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers
by Elizabeth Edwards

(Page 4 of 5)

Where do you think Cate's law degree will take her? Has she shown any interest in having a political career?

Cate is interested in public interest law, that is working with governments, non-governmental organizations or non-profit organizations on issues of public interest, such as access to justice, access to democratic processes, constitutional, civil and human rights, energy and environmental policies, labor policies, global political, financial, trade, and technological issues, poverty, or children's or women's issues. Although I thought she was terrific on the campaign trail, usually appearing by herself and taking questions, she has not expressed any interest in a political career.

In the book, you write candidly about differences of opinion between your husband and John Kerry over certain aspects of the campaign (including when to concede). Was it difficult to decide how frank to be in your memoir? Were there certain topics you decided would be off-limits altogether?

I tried to tell the story in the way that would be truthful. It would have been impossible, for example, to tell the story of the end of the campaign and the beginning of our fight against breast cancer without saying how hard it was to let go of the campaign, that John did not want to let go until the promise to count every vote had been fulfilled. Politics are like other human interactions; people will have differences. I didn't describe every difference of opinion not because it was "off-limits" or to keep a secret but because not every difference of opinion is structurally a part of the book.

Do you think the political landscape has shifted since the 2004 election?

The public trust on which the President counted in 2004 has clearly eroded as more and more information about the initiation of the war in Iraq are revealed, and frankly, I don't know how you rebuild lost trust. It is one of the reasons why it is important to be honest whatever the short-term cost. And the lobbying and leak scandals in Washington have driven a further wedge in the public trust in any part of their government. But I think that the American people want to believe in their President and want to believe that their elected officials care about them; that hasn't changed.

How has your understanding of cancer diagnosis and treatment changed now that you have been through it? Did you have any of the classic risk factors (such as a family history of the disease)?

No one on my mother's side of the family has had breast cancer, so I don't think I have a relevant family history. What we are learning now - and my doctor, Lisa Carey, is responsible in part for these breakthroughs - is that breast cancer is not one disease but an umbrella for lots of cancers that occur in the breast, with different causes and different prognoses and, we have reason to hope, different cures that can be identified as we identify the causes and triggers for each cancer. As to the current treatment, I am now much more informed about how physically difficult the chemotherapy regimen is and how it alters every part of a patient's life, whether or not they have a support system in place.

How did you react to becoming a patient rather than a caregiver?

I fought looking at myself as a patient because I didn't want to be a "victim" of cancer. I wanted to get started immediately after the biopsy results; I wanted to turn the tables on cancer and be the aggressor. But in the end, I was the patient; I was, undoubtedly, the victim, eventually physically leveled by the treatment. I was very lucky though, because I had a caregiver; my husband John took great care of me.

Did your illness affect your feelings about America's health care system?

My experience confirmed what I believed I knew about the health care system - that we have an inequitable system that provides great health care for a few and less thorough health care for everyone else. People come from all over the world to get medical treatment in America because we have such fine hospitals and doctors. Too many Americans, however, don't have access to them. Maybe they don't have health insurance or their health insurance doesn't cover the treatment that would be the very best for them. Whatever the excuses, my experience convinced me we need to finally do something to rectify the inequities.

You have received much from friends and strangers, and you have also given them much; the computer lab established in Wade's memory is but one example. How would you advise readers who want to do similar good works that might bring solace and strength to others? Where have you seen the most need in your travels throughout the country?

In the book I tell the story of Helen who bought crayons for her Sunday School with the little money she was able to use for her "good works" and I also tell the story of Lyght who delivered meals to the needy. In giving, the size of the gesture is a poor measure. What matters is that you actually do it. We too often talk about giving Christmas to a needy family or working a few hours at the Goodwill Store, but then we don't follow through. For those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, sometimes it is helpful to do something for others that you can see, and if that feels right to you, consider going to your local parks department and asking to see their wish list. It might be bulbs for a garden or a tree on a greenway or something more expensive, but you will be able to find something. For those who don't need the affirmation a physical gift provides, there are lots of opportunities to make a difference in people's lives, but the key here is continuity. Your church, your social services office, your school system, your hospital, local non-profit organizations can all provide you with their versions of wish lists - taking meals, reading to the young or the old, visiting with the home bound or hospitalized, filling the shelves of the food bank. But the real key is to commit to help regularly, to be someone that they can count on.

You're a lifelong lover of literature and have tried to nurture this trait in your children also. What books would you like to recommend to your readers and their children?

Everyone has their own taste in literature but I think it is a good idea to include in your regular reading two categories of books. One, read a classic at least once a year. You know, a book you were supposed to read in eleventh grade but never really did. Read it now. You don't have to give up whatever you love to read; just include something that stretches your mind a little. And two, read something by authors from your state or region. You might find a little of yourself on those pages.

Saving Graces concludes with images of your new home and other new beginnings. What are your dreams for the next chapter of your life?

There will be mornings, not long from now, when I will wake up and look across the meadow in our backyard at deer grazing - I hope they won't be in my garden. And I may make breakfast again, like I did a decade ago, for a houseful of boys and girls who stayed the night with Emma Claire and Jack. And I will finally have a place to paint and write, and a warm family kitchen in which to cook. I hope to have a small tractor - maybe this Christmas (a hint to John) - so that I can work on the paths in the woods I hope to clear so that when we grow old we can walk the woods in the early mornings. Maybe Cate will call from her new life and maybe John will bring me something he read, like he always does, and if they do, I will certainly think life is nearly perfect. Nearly is a word I have to use after losing Wade, but nearly perfect is not so bad a dream.

Copyright © 2006 by Elizabeth Edwards. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About the Author

Elizabeth Edwards, a lawyer, has worked for the North Carolina Attorney General's office and at the law firm Merriman, Nichols, and Crampton in Raleigh, and she has also taught legal writing as an adjunct instructor at the law school of North Carolina University. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.