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| Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton. (George Rose/Getty Images) |
Posted: Wednesday, 28 October 2009 8:47AM
10 years later, sweet memories of Walter Payton
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CHICAGO (CBS) ―It's hard to believe it's been a decade since Bears' legend Walter Payton succumbed to liver cancer at the age of 45.
Sunday is the anniversary of the day we lost "Sweetness", but it won't be a bittersweet moment for his widow Connie, or his children Jarrett and Brittney.
The Payton family has spent the past 10 years grieving and growing without Walter. CBS 2's Ryan Baker sat down with Connie and Jarrett to find out what life has been like for them since losing a husband, father and friend.
They believe he'd be proud of what they've become, as they live out the legacy of #34.
"I know I have him in my mind all the time and I see him through the kids and everything they do," said Connie Payton-Strotter.
"Yeah, it's starting to seem like 10 years. With all of the things that have happened between there. All the things the family has done, all of the stuff that we've done together, stuff on my own, getting married, stuff like that, you start to see how long time is," Jarrett said.
"I still feel like yesterday that day with the press conference [when Walter Payton revealed his liver disease], and I was holding my dad in my arms. Time passes."
"I'm happy to say we're all at good places right now," said Payton-Strotter. "I just recently remarried to someone who admired Walter and loved Walter, and my mother-in-law, who's graciously accepted him too, and says he reminds her of Walter too, so we're all at a great place. He's happy for us where we are right now."
Payton-Strotter says Jarrett looks and acts more like his father as he gets older.
"He does and there are things that he'd do personality-wise, and sometimes the way he sounds, and even Brittney. I look at her and I'm like 'gosh, she's definitely her dad's daughter,'" Payton-Strotter said.
"I feel like him, I just do. I modeled myself after him. Everybody has their heroes, everybody has the person who they look up to. I was fortunate to have him living in my house. I see myself in him so much because everything I always wanted to be, I strived to be like him," Jarrett said.
"He'll never be forgotten. People always ask me, 'do you get sad when people talk about your dad?' I said I'll be sad if people ever stop talking about my dad."
The Bears will remember Walter Payton and honor the 10-year anniversary of his death with a ceremony during Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns.
"There will be tears, I'm sure. They'll be happy tears, joyful tears," Payton-Strotter said. "I'm happy that we can be in the presence of people who truly love the Chicago Bears and who truly loved Walter. It's a celebration."
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