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Patrick Swayze's widow Lisa Niemi Swayze opened up about carrying on the late actor's memory 14 years after his death.
The "Ghost" star died at the age of 57 in September 2009 after battling pancreatic cancer for less than two years. In a Friday interview on "Today," Lisa, 66, shared that she still feels he is with her in spirit.
"His voice is in my head," the "Worth Fighting For" author said. "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.'"
Patrick Swayze's widow Lisa Niemi Swayze shared that she still hears "his voice" in her head. (Paul Aussenard/WireImage))
She continued, "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."
Lisa met Swayze at the age of 14 when they were both aspiring dancers. The two went on to tie the knot in June 1975 when she was 19 and he was 23.
After Swayze's death, Lisa continues the fight against the disease through her work with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
"I still care, and I know how tough Patrick’s and my journey was with this," she told "Today" host Hoda Kotb. "Cancer may have taken him, but it didn’t beat him. And I’m continuing his fight for him."
The "Dirty Dancing" star died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 57 in 2009. (Photo by Helmut Reiss/United Archives via Getty Images)
During an interview with Today.com, Lisa recalled the early signs of Swayze's disease. The "Dirty Dancing" star was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver in 2007.
"He came to me and he said, ‘Do my eyes look yellow?’" she remembered.
Lisa noted that Swayze also had digestive problems and persistent pain. "But it was mostly the yellow eyes that sent us to the doctor," she explained. "He said, ‘Oh, we’ll go in next week.’ But I thought, ‘Yellow eyes just doesn’t sound normal. We need to go tomorrow.’ We went to the doctor and the moment he looked at him and saw what was going on, he sent us immediately for a CT scan."
"Then we had a grueling 24 hours to wait while we got the reports back. It was a really tough time. Your life just turns on a dime."
Lisa explained that they both realized that Swayze's prognosis was dire but they "fought it for as long as his body could."
"It was a tough journey, but it was worth it," she said. "When you love someone, and they’re on this Earth with you, every moment is precious. Every bit of fight we did was worth it for that extra time."
Niemi and Swazye tied the knot in 1975 and were married for 34 years before his death. ((Photo by Denise Truscello/WireImage))
The "Slam Dance" actress also shared her advice for other caregivers.
"Find a way to give yourself breaks and nourish yourself," she said. "If somebody came over and was watching him, 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."
In addition, Lisa emphasized the importance of finding a support network. "It’s wonderful if you’re able to talk to somebody, especially people who are going through a similar situation as you," she said. "There can be a lot of anger and existential angst, particularly on the patient."
"I talk to women who’ve been through the same thing and their husbands got extremely angry — it was really difficult," Lisa added. "I would encourage someone to take each other’s hands, look each other in the eye and go through it together."
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"Because for Patrick and myself, it was so clear that nothing else mattered except the love that we had between us."
Lisa also opened up about finding love again after Swayze's death. She married jeweler Albert DePrisco in 2014. (Getty Images)
During her interview with "Today," Lisa opened up about finding love again. In 2013, she announced her engagement to jeweler Albert DePrisco and they married in 2014.
"When I fell in love with Albert, I was talking to one of my other widow friends and I said, ‘I love Albert, but it has nothing to do with my love for Patrick. It doesn’t affect that at all,'" Lisa remembered.
She continued, "Love doesn’t stop just because someone has left this Earth. It’s still there."
Lisa told "Today" that she would advise other widows and widowers to "be open" to finding new love after losing their spouses.
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"I can’t tell you how many widows say, ‘I’m never going to get married again. I’m never selling this house,'" she said.
"And you know what? You do it when you’re ready and not a moment before."
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