Patrick Swayze penned his memoir "The Time of My Life" in the months after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. The actor made peace with his fate, saying, "It's been an amazing ride. So this is okay."
Swayze also wrote about his 34-year marriage to wife Lisa Niemi. "How grateful I am that you chose to love me," he wrote. "I know that because of you, I've found my spirit. I saw the man I wanted to be. You are my woman, my lover, my mate and my lady. I loved you forever, I love you now and I will love you forever more."
"The Time of My Life" is scheduled to be released Sept. 29.
Patrick and Lisa's Love Story
Patrick met Lisa when he was 19 and she was 15. At the time, Lisa was taking dance classes with Patrick's choreographer mom, Patsy Swayze.
Before meeting Lisa, Swayze admitted, “I had been meeting girls with names like Mimi and Angel. And for a long time I didn't feel like I deserved Lisa.”
Swayze and Niemi said “I do” on June 12, 1975. The wedding was held in the backyard of Lisa's Houston home, and the reception was held at Patrick's family dance studio.
Patrick's relationship with Lisa inspired the actor to write “She's Like the Wind” for the 1987 soundtrack to “Dirty Dancing.”
Patrick and Lisa didn't appear together onscreen in “Dirty Dancing,” but Swayze routinely practiced his choreography with Lisa at home.
At the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo in 1994, the couple took to the stage for a romantic dance set to an instrumental version of Whitney Houston's “All the Man That I Need.”
Patrick and Lisa had the opportunity to costar in several projects, including 1987's action film “Steel Dawn” and 1998's “Letters from a Killer.”
Honesty was one of the many traits that drew Swayze to Niemi. “She was different than anyone I'd known. Like a flower. If I started my macho stuff, she'd cut me off fast,” Patrick told People magazine in 1984.
Lisa directed Patrick in the April 9, 2009 episode of the A&E show “The Beast,” which Swayze filmed while undergoing chemotherapy.
The couple ran two businesses together — a music business and a wildlife preserve.
The couple hoped to have children together, but it wasn't meant to be. Lisa suffered a miscarriage in 1990, and afterward “we got so focused on our world and our careers that we missed the boat,” Swayze told People in 2007.
All throughout Patrick's battle with pancreatic cancer, Lisa was by his side to help him soldier on. From helping him keep track of his medication to flying him to chemo treatments (she's a registered pilot), Niemi cared for Swayze non-stop throughout his treatment.
Lisa was reportedly by Patrick's side when the actor succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the couple's ranch on September 14, 2009.
After learning he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, Patrick began writing a memoir with Lisa titled “The Time of My Life.”
Did you like this story? You can find all this and more by signing up for
our newsletter.
Get the first look at what's coming up in “Extra This Week,” along with the
week's top stories, cool prize giveaways and special videos and photo
galleries.
