After John learned his trial ended without a conviction, he spoke tearfully about his children. I'm glad he avoided jail -- for their sake. What do YOU think, Hollywoodlifers?
John Edwards is a lucky man. His trial ended with one count of not guilty and the rest a mistrial. But the real victims here were not Bunny Mellon and the rest of John's donors, whose money was used to hide his mistress Rielle Hunter.
The victims of this scandal were John's children. All of them. Oldest daughter Cate, 30, a lawyer, who accompanied her father every day to court, Emma Claire, 14, and Jack, 12, who are being raised by their lone-surviving parent, and little Frances Quinn, 4.
The oldest, besides Cate, had to be well aware of the embarrassing scandal their father was involved in. They have been ridiculed at school, and they no doubt miss their mother Elizabeth Edwards desperately, who they lost to breast cancer in 2010.
Then there is little Frances Quinn, the innocent result of an illicit relationship that her mother Rielle had with John while he was campaigning for president and was still married to Elizabeth.
All these children needed their father and still need their father. It is so terribly painful for any children whose parent or parents end up behind bars.
For that reason, I'm glad that John's children didn't have to become fatherless, especially for the three that are also motherless.
I'm glad that John spoke out eloquently about his love for his children after the mistrial.
"Cate has been here there [in the courthouse] no matter how awful or painful the evidence about dad or evidence about her mom who she loves so dearly," he said on the courthouse steps. "She never once flinched. She said, dad I love you, I'll be there with you and I have been so proud to have her there with me."
He related how he takes care of Emma Claire, who turned 14, and Jack, who just turned 12, and how he has not been able to see them quite as much, but "I see them in the morning to get their breakfast ready, get them off to school and then we get home at night and all eat supper together. I love them so dearly and they are such an important part of every day of my life."
Finally, John made a huge point of talking about the child who he once worked so hard to cover up. His words were like an apology to her. He had betrayed her for so long by denying that he was her father.
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