In this article, Lisa Niemi describes the moment she had the impression that the late actor given her permission to remarry.
After a lengthy and passionate relationship with Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, who is now his widow, has no regrets about finding love again!
Over the course of the most recent edition of the podcast hosted by Amy and T.J., the 67-year-old former professional dancer discusses the next stage of her life after the passing of the Dirty Dancing star in 2009.
After receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, Swayze fought the illness for a total of 22 months before succumbing to it in 2009. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 57. Beginning in 1975 and continuing until Swayze’s loss, Niemi and Swayze were married. Niemi met Albert DePrisco, who would later become her husband, three years after he had passed away.
“I didn’t realize just how lonely I was until much, much later,” Niemi said and told Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes about her life following Swayze’s passing. “I’m the sort of gal that likes to buck up. Okay, I’ll take it. I am not experiencing feelings of loneliness; rather, I am having to cope with sadness. In my life, the arrival of [Albert] was a great and fantastic moment.
Years after the passing of Swayze and at the time when DePrisco was working through the aftermath of a divorce, Niemi was introduced to her husband by acquaintances they had in common. She explained to Holmes and Robach that the affection she has for her present husband does not diminish the love she still has for Swayze. She said this in response to their question.
In her words, “I really fell in love with Albert,” she said. “It was interesting to see how it didn’t affect my love for Patrick one bit.”
When Niemi was asked what her response was when DePrisco proposed to her, she stated that it was nothing more than “Oh s–t,” since she couldn’t even fathom the possibility of being married again. Niemi said that she was able to feel at ease with the concept of getting married once again after having a dream in which she became acquainted with Swayze.
Niemi interpreted the dream as if it were a resurrection of Swayze, and it was at that moment that he gave her his stamp of approval.
“He came up to me and he put his arms around me,” she recounted. “He was very affectionate.” As a result, I was thinking to myself, ‘I can’t marry Albert now since you’re back.’ and he did nothing except gaze at me. At that moment, the words that came to my mind were, “I am aware that you love me.” In the context of our connection with one another, it seemed as if he was conveying to me that the way we felt about one other had not been altered by the situation. It seemed like bestowing a favor onto her.
When it came to considering whether or not she would commit to saying “I do” once again, the vivid dream she had about the Road House actor “certainly did not hurt.”
In spite of the fact that Niemi believed she had the approval of her deceased husband, she was met with a great deal of criticism at the occasion of her second marriage. In spite of the fact that she first comprehended it, Niemi is not going to let her detractors prevent her from doing her second act.
“You learn to deal with it and move on,” she told Holmes and Robach. “There is a lot of flack that came with that, a lot of criticism, but you learn to deal with it and progress.” There is a strong temptation inside me to tell them, “Hey, girlfriend, put yourself in my position and tell me about it.” Give me the benefit of the doubt and tell me that I no longer love my spouse just because I have lost him. It’s really absurd.”
ET had a conversation with Niemi in 2022, just before to the 35th anniversary of Dirty Dancing, about the things that she misses the most about Swayze and how she manages to keep him with her on a daily basis.
“I don’t think there’s anything I don’t miss about him,” she said in response. It’s all the small things that are left, but he has such a passion for life and this and that. He’s got something for everything. The way he smells, the sound of his voice, and everything else that brings him into the room with you are all examples of physical aspects that come into play.
“It’s very strange for me because he’s been gone for thirteen years now,” she resumed the conversation. It is quite peculiar. That is a considerable amount of time, and it is really peculiar to have someone stay so far away from you while at the same time maintaining such a strong emotional connection with them. Of course, it would be lovely to have him physically there in the room, but I get the impression that he is with me every single day. However, I must tell you that we had a wonderful journey, and there are a lot of things for which we should be thankful.
