Patrick and Lisa Niemi Swayze in 2007.Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage
Lisa Niemi Swayze’s love for her late husbandPatrick Swayzelives on.
Over 13 years afterthe actor died on Sept. 14, 2009, at the age of 57 from pancreatic cancer, his widow reflected on their marriage during a conversation withHoda Kotbon theTodayshow Friday.
“Just because somebody’s gonedoesn’t end your relationship with them,” Lisa, 66, said. “We spent 34 years together, and that’s always going to be a part of my life and who I am.”
“When I need a bolstering up or something’s going on, I can ask him in my head, and I hear exactly what he’s saying, which is generally, ‘Come on, girl, get real,’ " she joked.
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Lisa also opened up about her work with thePancreatic Cancer Action Networkand supporting events like thePurpleStride fundraising walkhappening this Saturday.
“I still care and I know how tough Patrick’s and my journey was with this,” she told Kotb, 58. “Cancer may have taken him, but it didn’t beat him. And I’mcontinuing his fight for him.”
Lisa, whomarried jeweler Albert DePrisco in 2014, said her advice about finding love again in a similar situation is to simply “be open.”
“I can’t tell you how many widows say, ‘I’m never going to get married again. I’m never selling this house.’ And you know what? You do it when you’re ready and not a moment before,” she said.
Patrick and Lisa Niemi Swayze circa 1987.Images Press/IMAGES/Getty Images
RELATED GALLERY:Patrick Swayze’s Life in Photos
As for her advice to caregivers, Lisa said it would be to “take care of yourself, too.”
“Find a way to give yourself breaks and nourish yourself,” she said. “If somebody came over and was watching [Patrick], I’d go to TJ Maxx and shop for two hours. I’d go buy my $12 shirt and check out and I was good to go.”
Talking with others who have been in a similar situationcan also be a huge help, she said.
“I talk to women who’ve been through the same thing and their husbands got extremely angry — it was really difficult,” Lisa toldToday. “I would encourage someone to take each other’s hands, look each other in the eye and go through it together.”
“Because for Patrick and myself, it was so clear that nothing else mattered exceptthe love that we had between us,” she added.
source: people.com
