vc318

John Edwards Engaged: John Edwards Reportedly Proposes to Mistress Rielle Hunter Weeks After Wife Elizabeth Edwards' Death - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

RALEIGH, N.C. ( KTLA) -- Former presidential candidate John Edwards has reportedly proposed to mistress Rielle Hunter just weeks after his estranged wife Elizabeth Edwards died of cancer.

The National Enquirer is reporting that Edwards proposed to Hunter just three weeks after burying his wife of 33 years.

The Enquirer initially exposed the 2008 affair between Hunter and Edwards. The two have a now 2-year-old daughter, Frances Quinn, together.

According to the tabloid, Edwards introduced his three children with Elizabeth to Rielle and Frances Quinn at a North Carolina restaurant last month.

The paper quotes an unnamed source as saying, "John pledged his undying love, and promised her that one day they would all "become one big, happy family."

Rielle also allegedly told Edwards' children to "Call me Mommy!"

A source told CBS news that the report of the engagement was "inaccurate."

Edwards initially denied the affair, which occurred during his 2008 presidential run. He later admitted he "made a mistake" after the affair was made public.

Elizabeth and John Edwards separated last January.

Elizabeth Edwards died of cancer on Dec. 7. It was recently reported that she left everything in possession to her three children and nothing to her estranged husband.

Wow. You do something like this to your kids and to your wife after she has died? It really makes me wonder if he has a heart at all.

ericfan1

It is a very selfish heart...

sunnykerr

I don't get it.

Would it have been better if he'd proposed to her while his wife was dying?

And how is he doing anything to his children? This has nothing to do with them. Unless she is known to be abusive to them, I don't see how proposing to anyone concerns them.

Look, I get that he shouldn't have cheated on his wife. And I get that she died of cancer not super long after it was revealed that he cheated on her. And I also get that he cheated on her while she was dying of cancer. And, I quite agree, none of that is good. It's pretty crass, in fact.

But what exactly would you have him do now?

ceilirose

Oh wait about a year. They can live together under the radar. It won't kill them.

I hope the story is wrong but sometimes the National Enquirer is right on.

vc318

He cheated on their mother when she was ill and now he wants to marry the woman that is partially responsible for ruining the family. How could this not have anything to do with the kids?!

I just keep thinking about the kids. I'm sure the relationship with them must be next to nothing at this point. Just so sad.

TheAngel

I've heard more and more in the media that this story isn't true, and hopefully, it isn't. To me, it's simply a respect issue. I've never had anything happen like this in my family, but if my father cheated on my mother, then became engaged to his mistress just days after my mother passed away, I don't think I'd be able to maintain a relationship with him. it would be fairly certain to me that he was self-centered and didn't care about what his relationship was doing to his family (though I assume that because he cheated in the first place as well). But in this case, if he had become engaged this quickly, it's almost like he's saying "Well, now that she's out of the way we can get on with the good stuff". It's just not really a smooth move, in my opinion.

MyzButterfly

From what I understand this is completely untrue.

sunnykerr

Much ado about nothing then.

As far as I'm concerned, though, this was always the case.

The day my mother moved out of the house, my dad moved in with his girlfriend. She didn't move in with him right away because they were having the house re-decorated and the floors redone. I wasn't quite nine. At that age, you don't really understand the difference between married and living together, so I do think it's not the worst comparison.

Anyway, it wasn't easy. My dad had never done any of the heavy lifting, parenting-wise, up until then and now there was another adult in the equation.

Butr it wasn't the end of the world either. Just an adaptation. And, at that age, it's not that hard to adapt to new things.

And my mum (who, you know was the one cheated on) was the first one to tell me that my relationship with my father was completely separate from her relationship with him and that I should not let whatever happened between them change that.

So, you know, I do think it would have been pretty classless of him to propose to soon to Mrs Edwards's death. But, bearing in mind that everyone is different and no one can tell how someone else will handle any given situation, I feel pretty confident when I say that his love life has nothing to do with his children.

MyzButterfly

That's really sweet of your mom, had to be tough for her but she definitely put you first!!

4N6 DNA

Sunny, thank you for sharing that personal story. I am sorry that you have personal experience in this topic to speak from.

Should this story be true, I agree with those who think it insensitive. But I also think that perhaps this approach could serve him well? Maybe committing to the woman he had an affair with might make what he did seem more forgivable in the eyes of some Americans. They might look at the situation differently?

sunnykerr

Well, thank you both.

My point is that my mum may have put me (and my brother) first, but that it is what I would expect of any parent in that situation. I mean, unless the other spouse was unfit to be a parent. And I don't think adultery makes you unfit to be a parent. I think the relationship between two adults is one thing and the relationship between a parent and their child is a completely different thing.

And, some day, we can reasonably expect that John Edwards will find someone else to share his life. He may already have done so. Indeed, it may be this Ms Hunter person.

Tackiness and political points aside, he remains his children's only surviving parent. And some of them are, I believe, quite young. So I would not presume to call his parenting skills into question based on his inability to remain faithful to his wife. I don't know the man nearly well enough to present any kind of opinion on his parenting skills.

So if and when he does remarry or find a girlfriend or whatever... I say more power to him. It doesn't change the past. But, come on, Mrs Edwards is gone now. She's over it. And whatever opinion his children may have on the topic is theirs to have. Not mine.

And if that affects his political career more so than it has already been affected... well, I personally find it bizarre, but that's just my personal opinion.

4N6 DNA

I think it just comes down to just how much people feel personal lives affect a persons ability to do their job. We've been through this with Clinton, Tiger, any cheating public figure. When it all comes down to it, I don't think that someone with a messy personal life means they won't be good at their job. But Americans care too much about appearances and not unlike the lack of separation of church and state, in our politics, we can't seem to shake pairing personal and professional life.

MyzButterfly

Completely agree!!

Cristofle

I call his parenting skills into question because he denied his child was his for years, not because he cheated on his wife. Too many people cheat for me to declare that has anything to do with parenting, but denying his daughter with this woman was his to protect his career? Yeah, he isn't winning any Father of the Year awards for that one.

MyzButterfly

Yeah that was pretty low of him, but in regards to him parenting his kids with Elizabeth, I can't question that. Especially now that they only have one parent.