The announcement that Elizabeth Edwards must undergo treatment for bone cancer came on the anniversary of my mother's death. She also had survived her breast cancer for five years before it reappeared. That was 1974, and treatments are much more successful now, to the point that some cancers are treatable as chronic diseases.

By all evidence from this distance, Elizabeth Edwards is a courageous and quite wonderful person. She is a smart and effective advocate for the same issues that animate her husband. I wish her the best. I also believe that the decision she and John Edwards made to continue his presidential campaign is the right one. It is more than ironic to me that there are so many echoes of Watergate in the Bush administration these days. When my mother was hospitalized for the last time, Watergate was unfolding, and I remember that in her weakened and medicated state, my mother was visibly frightened by the sight of Richard Nixon on television. This is an even more crucial time in this country's history, and for the human future. John Edwards is advancing ideas and gaining a hearing for important priorities, such as health care, poverty and the Climate Crisis. He said today that when Elizabeth needs him he will be there for her. In the meantime, Elizabeth Edwards will be there for all of us.