Patrick Swayze's Widow: 'I Have to Go Through It'
By PopEater Staff Posted Oct 28th 2009 07:14AM
Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze's wife of 34 years, told a women's conference Tuesday that the loss of her husband just six weeks ago "is like an animal all of its own" and the sadness could be felt "on a cellular level." PEOPLE reports that Niemi spoke in a roundtable on Grief, Healing and Resilience at the Women's Conference 2009 in Long Beach, California. Niemi told the attendees, "When the grief takes you, it's like your body is not your own. I'm just going with the flow. I know I have to go through it."
Niemi, speaking for the first time since Swayze's death in September, said that she never left her husband's side during the last months of his life. She admitted, "I've spent two thirds of my life with him. ... My regret is that I didn't tell him that I loved him enough over that entire 34 years."
"I am so grateful for what I had and my connection to him, and part of me believes that I will see him again," added Niemi, "and I'm just going to have to go on until then."
Swayze's widow explained that her friends are instrumental in keeping her afloat. "I have a few girlfriends that are just amazing. They have made themselves available to me 24/7. They say, 'We don't care if it's 2 in the morning, call me'," she said. "I was in the middle of a full-blown panic attack one evening ... and I picked up the phone and called one, which is really hard for me to do because I'm used to being so self-sufficient and taking care of myself, but the very act of picking the phone up to call someone helped to calm me."
Niemi and Swayze met as teenagers at his mother's dance studio, and their marriage became one of the most enduring relationships in Hollywood.
Swayze passed away at age 57 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
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Lisa your husband will always be w/you...
Reply
I CAN FEEL YOUR PAIN I LOST MY WIFE IN APRIL I WILL PRAY FOR YOU READ IS 61 IN THE BIBLE IT WILL HELP YOU
I loved him. He was a great actor. Wow, I didnt know that they've been together since teenagers. I think that is soooo cute. They had something special together. I'm sooo sorry you lost your husband. Everyone loved him. I also do believe you will see him again.
Having been married to my wife of 32 years, when she suddenly passed away almost 3 years ago, I certainly can understand what Lisa felt. Not only did I not say "I love you enough", but I also regret the times that I took my wife for granted or expected something more than she could give. It may have started as a physical attraction, but it became so much more.
keep all of your good memories in your heart===they are only yours!!!!
I feel for you. I lost my wife unexpectedly almost 13 years when she was just 41, we had been together 17 years. There are some losses we never truly get over. Not a day goes by that I don't hink of her or speak to her.
I have been fortunate that on 4 ocassions since her passing she has appeared to me. I came to see that she would manifest in those times when I was just over whelmed, feeling alone in facing the world. I believe that it's her way of letting me know that she is still there watching over me, and in that I take comfort.
Patrick will come to you in many ways if you're open to and aware of his presence. I would suggest that you talk to him, for he hears you.
May your heart heal and may you find peace in the knowledge that you will see him again.
Sincerely;
Rick
Reply
Rick,What a sweet thing to say.I loss my youngest son (23yrs.old) to an automobile accident and I have strong feelings that he is around me in spirit. My life will never be the same due to missing his smiling face and hugs or telling me he loves me. I'm sorry you lost your wife but she is waiting to join you again forever. God Bless you and thanks for touching my life with your comment!
Rick, sorry for your loss but speaking from knowledge of the bible, one who dies does not come back. It may be a way of getting thru your emotions but please don't try to tell someone something that is just wrong.
Rick,so sorry for your loss.I lost my wife 11 years ago to breast cancer.She was only 46 at the time.Like you,also,I have had visitations.It's been several years since I had them though.
To Lisa,my heart and prayers go out to you.All I can say to you is,I've walked in your shoes.And,until a person has been down this path in life,they will never truely know how you feel.Like Rick,hardly a day goes by,after 11 years,that I don't think of her and miss her.Time will eventually make it easier to live with,day to day.The memories and love you had for one another will always remain.
I think that's fantastic and hope the same happens with me and the love of my life! It's God's blessings for you!
I lost my Father at an early age, he was 54 and I was 32, and we were terribly close...He comes to me like flashes of seeing him in my rearview mirror at times, and most through my dreams at night...I tell my Wife, who never met him, that I have 2 different dreams with him...one, when things are trying or difficult or something good has happened, and he tells me he's proud or good job, or everything will be all right...I wake up from these dreams feeling GREAT! The other dream makes me wake up upset and terribly sad and tired, and that is when we see each other in my dream and we tell each other how much we love each other and how much we miss each other and how sad we are and we hug and hold each other...THOSE are tough on me. Yes, he DOES come to me in my dreams.
Rick, your reply was so beautiful and I too believe as you do. Just becuase they are gone in the physical sense doesn't mean they aren't still here in the spiritual. So, as you said, talk to them as if they are by your side and rest easy knowing that one day, two spirits will reunite as one again. God Bless you.
that was very nice said
I have had dreams where my mom or grandfather have come to me and we have hugged and told each other we love and miss each other. It is a dream, but the connection is very deep to the soul and real as if they were hugging you still in real life. It happens every so often when unexpected. It is nice to know they are still with us on occassion and will be for the rest of our life.
rick, im sorry about your wife. i know what its like to lose somebody you love, almost everyone does. i had a daughter when i was just 15 years old. i had full custody of her and 2 years later her mother came and took her from me and they were involved in a car accident all in the same day. my daughter passed away the next day. this happened in 2007 and i still think about it each and everyday. nobody truly understands what its like to lose a child, or anybody close to them, until it actually happens to them. when something like that happens you lose hope and faith in everything you once believed in. as for me im regaining my faith and im trying my best to repair my relationship with God.
-blake
I, too, lost my husband of 13 years to cancer when he was only 52. That has been almost 11 years ago now. Patrick's wife is going through a rough time now and I'm glad she has friends to turn to for strength. God bless all of us who have lost spouses to this terrible disease - no matter what form it takes.
Rick Thank you for sharing your story of your wife. I lost my son 7 months ago from pancertic liver cancer. he was 37 .we lost his daughter 1 month ago she was 19 from cancer. I talked to them too. I have not seen my son or granddaughter yet but i know i will., but i heard him call my name on mothers day. My Prayers are with you.
Rick, I could not have said it better myself. Although I have not lost a significant other, a husband in my case, except through divorce it is not the same. The person that I speak of is my Father. I believe that my Dad who was the salt of the earth is here with me everyday as I struggle through life's ups and downs both as his daughter and as an RN who sees the death of others loved ones everyday. As a Hospice RN, I saw many go through what Lisa experienced as my Father did and I hope that even though I was not family in the traditional sense, I loved my patients none the less as I saw them go through a living hell as did my Dad.
I, too, feel his presence everyday and I have a poem I keep near his picture that reads: "If Tears Could Build a Stairway And Memories Could Build a Lane, I'd Walk Right Up to Heaven and Bring you Home Again...I no longer have the constant tears but a loving memory and the sense of his spirit with me everday that sustain me and a belief in God that someday I will see him again. Perhaps not in the "physical sense" but in an emotional one that is not only better because I will understand he is in a better place and has ALWAYS been here with me.
Lisa, I only hope you have peace that Patrick will always be there with you and for you whenever you need him.
Rick,
I feel for your loss, you are correct they do visit you. As for Cheryl's comment about the bible and psychics are the work of the devil she is just a bible thumper that probably never lost someone close and is probably a greedy, selfish wretch. I come from a family of psychics and I am a Catholic, and yes they move to another plane, your wife has been around more than the 4 times. When they come to in a dream, you know it is them talking to you and not just a dream because you will not see their lips move because they communicate through telepathy (not the work of the devil). You will smell a scent that was common for her, perfume, a cool breeze for a few seconds even though no windows or doors are open. She is very much alive, just her shell is dead.
Rick, this will be my final comment, as I have no desire to debate anyone, however Mary's comments are wrong about me. She knows nothing about me and is making stupid assumptions. I am not a bible thumper, read it for yourself and make your own decisions. Mary, you are deceived, and of the devil. Yes I said it and I stand behind it. Prove me wrong. You cannot. All you can do is call me names and make assumptions. So Rick's wife has been around 4 times! Are you kidding me. Prove it. Back it up. I have an open mind, prove me wrong!