Sweet young Candy is in need of comfort/consortium. Volunteers?
Posted on 10/21/2002 5:27:34 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Candy faces life without her husband She plans return to work, considers a baby.
John Hill / Louisiana Gannett News Posted on October 21, 2002
BATON ROUGE - The sadness showed in Candy Edwards' eyes as she struggled to capture her feelings in the final few days of her husband's freedom.
"As long as this man is alive, I am going to be his wife," she said, her eyes glistening, her arm around his waist in the sunny breakfast room courtyard of their luxurious home.
"I didn't want to do any interviews," she said, explaining why she declined all but two. "I woke up with my heart hurting. I just didn't think I could make it through an interview."
Candy Edwards, 38, is and has always been obviously very devoted to her 75-year-old husband. She has laughed when he said that a man his age needs a pretty young nurse.
No golddigger, Candy Edwards is the daughter of the family that owns the major lumberyard in Gonzales, the hub of the Baton Rouge suburban parish of Ascension, one of the most rapidly growing in Louisiana.
She once explained that she never intended to fall in love with an older man. In fact, she rebuffed his overture the first time they met at a Baton Rouge restaurant.
Together since 1990, married in the Governor's Mansion garden in 1995, Candy and Edwin Edwards have rarely been apart. The final days they were rarely more than a few feet apart.
"I am going to miss him terribly," Candy said. "But I'm going to get to talk to him every day and see him on the weekends."
A good friend will move in with her. When she gets her bearings, she plans to get a job, probably in pharmaceutical sales. Edwin donated the $600,000 house to her years ago; it's paid for. Her Mercedes convertible and his Lexus SUV are in the garage. There's some money in the bank, but Edwin had to pay the federal government $1.8 million.
Their well-publicized decision to have a child has been unsuccessful, but perhaps not permanently. While they were still trying, they took another step: "We have some frozen sperm she is going to be using in my absence. We will see what happens," Edwin Edwards said.
He has offered divorce. After all, barring presidential commutation or a judicial miracle, Edwin Edwards will be imprisoned for a minium of 8#1/2# years. That's a long time, and there's no guarantee he will survive his sentence.
"I have attempted to discuss it with her, but she will not talk about it. As far as she is concerned, this is not the end of the world. She's going to stick around. She is a registered nurse," Edwin said.
"However, I have told her - at the risk there might be some misunderstanding about what I am saying - that a decision about what to do with her life is hers.
"Nothing would make me happier than for her to visit me every chance she can get and to be waiting for me when I get out of prison. But I recognize that is an awful burden for her," the former governor said with characteristic frankness.
Candy Edwards has told friends that she wakes up at night, sits up in bed and just watches her husband.
"I wish we weren't going through this," she said. "I keep thinking I am going to wake up from a nightmare."
She still has hope.
"I feel deep down inside my heart of hearts that something good is going to happen," Candy Edwards said. "This man doesn't deserve this. This can't be how it ends for us."
Sweet young Candy is in need of comfort/consortium. Volunteers?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.