Niemi Swayze, the widow of actor, Patrick Swayze, is opening up about Swayze’s first pancreatic cancer symptoms.
Niemi says that her husband complained of stomach issues and yellowing eyes, before he went to a doctor to receive testing. He would receive his diagnosis just a day later, when he would tell his wife, “I’m a dead man”.
Swayze would die at the age of 57, in 2009, the same year he received his diagnosis.
“His voice is in my head. He comments on what I’m doing. 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,’” Niemi told Today. “Just because somebody’s gone doesn’t end your relationship with them. We spent 34 years together, and that’s always going to be a part of my life and who I am.”
Since then, Niemi has remarried, but says that her connection to Swayze will never be severed.
“I have a dear widow friend. I fell in love with Albert. I said, ‘It’s really weird because it doesn’t conflict with the love that I still have for Patrick.’ And just because somebody’s gone doesn’t mean you fall out of love. My wise friend said that’s because love comes from the same well. I thought that’s a really wonderful thing to say. Albert and I both felt like we have a lot of love still left to give and felt very fortunate we found someone to give it to.”
Sources:
Patrick Swayze’s Widow, Lisa Niemi Swayze, Shares Advice About Remarrying After Loss (today.com)
