When you think of a romance story, what’s the first thing that pops into your head?
The NoteBook? Sleepless in Seattle? How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days? Well guess what Juicers,
we have a romance story that’s going to blow all of these out of the water! And you
know what else? It’s a true story. It’s times like these that we need a little reminder
that true love really is out there. So, today we're going to tell you the story of Patrick
Swayze and Lisa Niemi. After experiencing more loss and heartbreak than anyone should
ever go through, was Lisa ever able to recover and move on from all the trauma?
You might want to grab a box of tissues and keep it nearby, because this one is going
to get the water works running. Before we get into it, please make sure to subscribe
to Rumour Juice! We have everything you need to know about the romance that blossoms in
the celebrity world.
You might remember Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing, but his real love story started way
before he starred in the film. Patrick met Lisa Niemi when he was 18-years old and she
was just 14! Lisa always knew that she wanted to be a dancer, and began training in ballet
from a young age. It turns out that Patrick Swayze’s mother, Patsy, was actually Lisa
Niemi’s ballet teacher.
Now, before you think that the pair set eyes on each other and it was love at first sight,
think again. With a dancing teacher for a mother, Patrick grew up dancing and had fun
showing off to other girls that used to come to the studio. However, he admitted that he
found it difficult trying to speak to Niemi. It seems that his charms that worked so well
on other women, just didn’t do it for Lisa.
“I knew she was the smartest chick I’d ever met in my life. I had been meeting girls
with names like Mimi and Angel,” Swayze said to People magazine. “And for a long
time, I didn’t feel like I deserved her.”
Niemi made it clear that she didn’t want a smooth talking kind of guy, she wanted someone
that was real, honest and down to earth. Once the pair started having real conversations
and Patrick opened up about what he wanted from life, she started to pay a little more
attention to him. After a few dates, the couple knew that they wanted to spend the rest of
their lives together and they married in 1975. The wedding took place in the very same dance
studio that Lisa had learnt ballet, the perfect reflection of the pair’s love for dancing
and an ode to how they met.
The two were completely inseparable, sharing the same passion for dancing, both getting
their pilot licenses, and sharing a huge love for animals. Eventually they moved to a ranch
in New Mexico. Of course, the pair’s biggest passion was for performing. While Lisa pushed
for a career in dance, Swayze leaned more into the world of acting. The couple battled
to make ends meet while they were attempting to make names for themselves in their chosen
industry.
Finally, in 1987 it was Dirty Dancing that gave Patrick the big break that he needed.
Despite being a low budget film, it ended up making a whopping $214 million at the box
office. CHACHING!
The actor shot to stardom, but remained humble, constantly giving thanks to Lisa for having
played a large part in his early success. “I just felt at the time that I’m very,
very lucky to have a woman who thinks I hung the moon,” In fact, one song that Swayze
co-wrote for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, “She’s Like the Wind” was inspired by
Lisa and his relationship with her.
But, like in any relationship it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Patrick and Lisa
also faced their fair share of rocky moments. In the early 90’s, Lisa suffered from a
miscarriage which was heartbreaking for the couple who were trying so hard to have a child
at the time. Patrick had mentioned, “I was born to be a dad.” Others have said that
the couple would have made the perfect parents because they both had too much wisdom, kindness
and love to share.
Unfortunately, the tragedy doesn’t stop there. Soon after Lisa’s miscarriage Patrick’s
father died of a heart attack and his sister died a few years later due to complications
related to prescription medication. Unable to cope with all of the heartache, loss and
expectations from his career, the actor turned to drinking.
Patrick’s addiction to alcohol began to take a toll on his career and he was soon
sidelined by Hollywood. His marriage was also beginning to suffer, which allegedly resulted
in numerous arguments and the actor had no choice but to check himself into rehab. The
couple spent the next year apart, taking the time to heal and take care of themselves after
everything they had experienced.
"When the separation happened I had to be willing for it to be permanent," Niemi said.
"We didn't feel like we had a choice. Did I love him still? Absolutely. But it wasn't
going to work any other way. To his credit, things did turn around." Lisa wrote in her
book, detailing their marriage.
But the battle wasn’t over yet … the couple still had a few challenges ahead left to face.
In 2005 Lisa suffered yet another miscarriage, which left the pair totally despaired. It
seemed that it was their last attempt to conceive, as the two never went on to have any children.
A friend close to the couple said that this was their deepest regret.
And if the two hadn’t experienced enough, in 2008 another tragedy hit the family, when
Swayze was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The symptoms began towards the end
of the previous year. He started to suffer from terrible pain, describing it as (quote)
“pouring acid, you know, on an open wound.”
"I keep dreaming of a future, a future with a long and healthy life, a life not lived
in the shadow of cancer but in the light," Swayze said at Stand Up 2 Cancer event.
Soon, the actor began to lose a lot of weight, and the doctors told him that his chances
of surviving the disease were very slim. There was nothing the doctors could do because the
tumor had spread too far. The news didn’t stop Patrick from fighting the battle against
cancer and he chose to undergo chemotherapy.
The couple did everything they could to make their time together more meaningful and special.
Patrick and Lisa renewed their vows in the ultimate fairytale ceremony as he rode up
on a white horse, proving that their love was as strong and passionate as ever. "We
did it very Prince Charming and Snow White," he told Walters in the last interview before
he died.
"It was like a fairy tale," Niemi added. "One of the happiest days ever."
Niemi said that she had an immense amount of respect for her husband, and admitted that
while she grieved throughout Swayze's cancer battle, she never showed him the pain that
she was going through.
"Every time he looked at me, I wanted him to know he was OK," she said.
At just 57 years old, Patrick’s fight for his life came to an end in 2009, when he succumbed
to the disease after almost a 2-year battle. His fans flocked to his star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame and laid flowers and cards in his honor. But there was no doubt that the
person who was hit the hardest by his passing was his wife of almost 40 years, Lisa.
She said, “When you lose somebody, that kind of grief happens on a cellular level."
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy for Lisa to move on and heal from her indescribable
loss, “I thought during the 22 months of my husband’s illness that it gave me time
to get used to the idea of losing him,” she added, “And I found for myself when
I actually got to that point I said, no, no, no. That wasn’t the same at all, the actual
loss is – it’s like an animal all on its own.”
She also admitted that her only regret is that she didn’t tell Patrick that she loved
him often enough. Even though she told him that she loved him every time she left the
room when they were together, she still didn’t feel like it was enough. She said, “I would
be with Patrick a million times over if I could — warts and all…”
While anyone else would have become a shell of a human being after suffering from so much
loss, Lisa went on to prove that she was no ordinary woman. She went on to become the
Chief Ambassador of Hope for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, an organization dedicated
to fighting the world’s toughest cancer. She decided to do something in honor of Swayze,
rather than let herself be crippled by her grief.
Lisa and Patrick proved that love truly can conquer all. Despite all the suffering that
they experienced, they loved each other throughout the dark times, supporting each other through
it all. Lisa said, "Cancer may have taken him, but it never beat him,". The actor was
a fighter through it all and his wife stayed with him, supporting him and holding his hand,
right until the very end.
This is truly a love story that will go down in history. Patrick and Lisa went through
an unimaginable amount of loss after loss, but they never gave up on one another and
that’s what true love is really all about. What do you think about the couple’s story?
Has it given you a bit of hope that true love is still out there? We want to know all of
your thoughts! Leave your comments down below, and remember … we do this for you Juicers!