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Many Americans have opinions about whether John and Elizabeth should continue campaigning for president. Elizabeth admits she's "surprised and also a little disappointed" in the reactions. "People who had fought cancer in their own families were more likely…I found them almost universally likely to support the decision we've made. People who have faced it themselves support it," Elizabeth says. "And what bothers me about the judgment by people who haven't faced it is that they're not just saying something negative about us. We're used to that. … But they're also saying it to the families who decide they're going to stay in their jobs, they're going to continue teaching or continue painting or continue whatever their life work is, the thing that helps define who they are."
In her book, Saving Graces, Elizabeth wrote about a letter she received about a woman with a brain tumor. In that letter, the writer points out that she isn't defined by her brain tumor. "She said she's married to Brian, she likes Ethiopian food, and she has a brain tumor," Elizabeth says. "And I think that people don't understand. It's live until you die, however long that is, and that's my advice to people who are facing this diagnosis and to everybody else listening to it: Live until you die."
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