Facing another challenge

Washington Post: The nation's heart, and ours, goes out to Elizabeth Edwards. After she received a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2004 -- and beat it, for a time -- she and her husband, John, announced Thursday that her cancer has returned. This time, they said, it is an incurable menace that has settled in her bones.
The Edwardses are no strangers to heartache. In 1996, their 16-year-old son, Wade, was killed in a car accident. But Mrs. Edwards has never been one to seek pity from others. As she said Thursday during a news conference in Chapel Hill, N.C., "We are always looking for the silver lining."
By speaking openly about her illness and allowing her doctor to answer questions about it, Mrs. Edwards provides an example of straightforwardness that may encourage other women and men to talk about their health and seek checkups when appropriate. Not only that, she shows that a recurrence of cancer does not mean that one must stop living one's life. Her courage and determination will be an inspiration to others wrestling with unwanted diagnoses.