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Toughest Hurdle Is Trust: Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards says she's focusing on advocacy and family

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 18, 2008 1:29 PM CDT

(Newser) – Elizabeth Edwards is reentering the public eye with her attention fixed firmly on her three children and her health care advocacy, the Detroit Free Press reports, but can’t avoid questions about husband John’s extramarital affair. “There's a lot of adjustment to make,” she said in her first extended interview since the former Democratic candidate admitted the affair 5 weeks ago. “When you mention trust, that's probably the most difficult hurdle.”

Edwards, 61 and battling breast cancer, said the upheaval has made her focus on “issues that still matter to me, and on the children who are the center of my life,” and concentrating on them helps with “an ongoing process of finding your feet again.” This includes correcting her children’s view of their philandering father: “I need to create the picture for them that I want them to have.”

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (1)]

"I don't want to feed the monster, if you don't mind," Elizabeth Edwards told the Detroit Free Press when asked if she'd forgiven husband John for his extramarital affair. (AP Photo)

John and Elizabeth on the trail. (AP Photo)

John Edwards joining his wife Elizabeth during a book signing for Elizabeth's book "Saving Graces." (AP Photo)

The Edwards clan. (AP Photo)

The Edwards family, sans John. (AP Photo)

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When you mention trust, that's probably the most difficult hurdle. - Elizabeth Edwards, on coping with
her husband John's admission of
an extramarital affair

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Toughest Hurdle Is Trust: Edwards