Remembering Elizabeth Edwards: 1949-2010

Through politics, scandals and her public battle with cancer, the onetime senator's wife was the model of grace under fire

TRUE TO HER WORD

In spite of John's infidelity and her illness, Elizabeth keeps her word, hitting the road for her husband. While she says her motto is "Don't stop living. Live until you die," she starts preparing a letter for her children after she's gone, an idea she gleaned from Terms of Endearment. "It's more than 'How do you get the core out of a head of lettuce?'" Edwards tells PEOPLE. "It's 'How you choose who you marry and what to expect from that, how you choose a church.' It's got all that butting-my-nose-into-their-lives-long-after-I'm-gone stuff."