Maria Shriver and Lisa Niemi Talk Grief at 2009 Women’s Conference
The 2009 Women’s Conference started on Monday night in Long Beach, California with many guest speakers. Two very notable speakers on stage Tuesday night at the conference were Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Lisa Niemi, the widow of late actor Patrick Swayze. The conference, which is held every year, is produced by Maria and Arnold to empower and transform women from the inside out. Arnold also spoke.
During the conference Maria shared her grief over the passing of her mother, which she says brought her to her knees. She describes grief as cracking your heart into pieces and confesses she isn’t doing very well coping with her mom’s death, which happened in August. Maria also added that it doesn’t matter how old or tough someone is, they never outgrow needing to be cared for and loved.
When Lisa took the stage, she talked about the death of Patrick Swayze, who died of Pancreatic cancer only 6 weeks ago. She told the crowd of women how her loss affected her to a deep cellular level, how she doesn’t feel like her body is hers, and how she is going with the flow, as she knows she has to go through this. Lisa added though that part of her believes she will see him again, but she will have to go on until that time comes.
There were many other men and women who spoke at the conference as well. This included Elizabeth Edwards, Susan St. James, Kelly Preston, Somaly Mam (a former Cambodian sex slave), David Gregory (Meet the Press), Sir Richard Branson (founder of The Virgin Group), Sheila Bair (FDIC chairman), Katie Couric, Valerie B. Jarrett, Madeline Albright, and Eve Ensler.
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