By April MacIntyre Oct 28, 2009, 4:04 GMT
Maria Shriver organized a summit to openly discuss grief, and the process we all go through when dealing with death.
Maria Shriver looks out the window of her limo as the family heads to the burial site from St. Francis Xavier Church after her mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral in Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA, Maria Shriver organized a summit to openly discuss grief, and the process we all go through when dealing with death. EPA/MATT CAMPBELL
Patrick Swayze's widow Lisa Niemi spoke about her life partner Patrick Swayze's death. Only six weeks ago Patrick succumbed to Pancreatic cancer, and the loss of him has affected Niemi t a deep "cellular level."
"When the grief takes you, it's like your body is not your own,” Niemi was reported as saying at the Grief, Healing and Resilience at the Women's Conference 2009 in Long Beach, Calif. “I'm just going with the flow. I know I have to go through it."
"I have a few girlfriends that are just amazing. They have made themselves available to me 24/7. They say, 'We don't care if it's 2 in the morning, call me'," says Niemi, her blond hair pulled back into a loose bun and wearing an all-black dress. "I was in the middle of a full-blown panic attack one evening ... and I picked up the phone and called one, which is really hard for me to do because I'm used to being so self-sufficient and taking care of myself, but the very act of picking the phone up to call someone helped to calm me."
Niemi believes they will be reunited again. "I am so grateful for what I had and my connection to him, and part of me believes that I will see him again, and I'm just going to have to go on until then."
Maria Shriver moderated the event, sharing her pain over the loss of her mother Eunice Shriver and uncle Edward "Teddy" Kennedy. Shriver revealed the loss of her mother "brought her to her knees."
Also booked at the event were Elizabeth Edwards and Susan St. James. St. James lost her son Teddy at age 14 in a plane crash, and Edwards lost her son Wade at age 16 in a car crash.
Kelly Preston, who just lost her son Jett, had pulled out of the event, saying it was just too soon for her.
"Kelly called to say it was just too painful for her to talk about Jett," says Shriver. "She said the grief was still too debilitating for her. And I totally understood."
The Women's Conference 2009, hosted by Shriver and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gathers more than 100 newsmakers and world opinion leaders with 25,000 women from all walks of life.
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