While a love story as theirs should never come to an end, there couldn't have been a better way to say goodbye than by saying "I love you" to each other.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 22, 2020. It has since been updated.
Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi's relationship is one of Hollywood's most enduring love stories. The couple first met in 1975 at the dance studio owned by Patrick's mom. What began as an instant connection then lasted until his passing in 2009. In their 34-year-long journey, they had their fair share of ups and downs. This even included a-year-long separation from one another in 2003, after Patrick picked up a drinking problem. But the couple was determined to resolve any differences that kept them apart, and they got back together stronger than ever to continue their lifelong commitment to each other, reports Good HouseKeeping.
Reflecting on her marriage to Patrick, Lisa stated, “No relationship is perfect, you hang in there and you don’t give up. And of course, you are going to have bad times. I would be with Patrick a million times over if I could — warts and all,” Woman Magazine quoted her. During the Dirty Dancing star's battle with pancreatic cancer, Lisa stood like a rock beside him and supported him in every way. After twenty long months of fighting the disease, Swayze passed away, leaving Neimi overwhelmed with grief. After those utterly difficult months of losing her soulmate, Lisa opened up about her biggest regret about her marriage. “My regret is that I didn’t tell him that I loved him enough over that entire 34 years,” she confessed.
After decades of facing challenges together and being there for each other, she still felt that she didn't say "I love you" enough. That says much about the power of words and how important they are in relationships. Even in his last moments, the words the couple shared with each other reveal the power of the bond. In 2011, after his demise, Lisa wrote a memoir in which she documented their struggle with his cancer. She also expressed how she felt that they were still very much together. In the memoir, she also revealed Patrick's last words before he left the world.
"My last words to Patrick? ‘I love you,’ and those were his last words to me," she wrote. "He had already been in a semi-coma, but late on Friday night, he slipped fully in. We still talked to him. Sat with him. I cherished our time alone, holding his hand, listening to music, sleeping with my arm around him, my head on his shoulder, wordlessly," she recounted. "In the quiet of Monday morning, September 14, I looked at his face and listened to the tiny sips of air he was taking. There was something delicate, childlike about it. I knew it was time."
She went on to publish a book called Worth Fighting For in which she candidly documented the last few months of Patrick's life where she just lived her life in his company and made him feel comfortable. She bared her emotions and spoke about his dedication towards him in this tale of love, loss, and beyond.
References:
https://www.womanmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/lisa-niemis-one-regret-marriage-patrick-swayze-65009
Source: Getty Images | Photo by Ethan Miller / Staff
