Edwards remembered by friends, family

Friends of Elizabeth Edwards on Saturday remembered the late healthcare
advocate as a fierce competitor with an enormous intellect and endless
love for her family.

Edwards, who was also wife to Democratic presidential and vice
presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), succumbed
to cancer and died last Tuesday.

In a moving ceremony in
Raleigh, N.C., at the same church where her son was buried about 15
years ago after a tragic car accident, Edwards was remembered fondly by
her friends and family.

Her oldest daughter, Cate, a 28-year-old Washington attorney, told
stories of her mother trying to comfort her and her family in the days
before she died.

“Even in her last days, she was comforting us, our family,” Cate Edwards said.

Cate Edwards read aloud to the audience from a letter her mother wrote to her to be with her daughter after her death.

“You
are complete joy to me,” Edwards wrote to her daughter. “I hope you
will always know that. Wherever I am, wherever you are, I have my arms
wrapped around you.”

Longtime friend Hargrave McElroy told humorous stories of Edwards’s
time on the campaign trail, remembering Edwards as a fierce competitor
and a loving mother.

“I am so blessed to have called her my friend,” McElroy said.

While present at the funeral, John Edwards did not speak. The
Edwardses separated about a year ago after the former vice presidential
nominee admitted to having an affair.