Elizabeth Edwards is now talking about her husband’s affair.

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Elizabeth Edwards said the admission by her husband, two-time Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, that he had an affair with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter has helped her focus on the importance of her children and issues like health reform as she goes through "an ongoing process of finding your feet again."

"There’s a lot of adjustment to make," Elizabeth Edwards told the newspaper this week. "When you mention trust, that’s probably the most difficult hurdle."

After five weeks of near silence, since former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina admitted his marital troubles, his wife will visit Detroit on October 15 to talk about coping with life’s setbacks, including the loss of her son Wade at age 16 in an auto accident and her 2004 diagnosis of breast cancer, which recurred in 2007.

The Edwards couple came under fire for keeping John’s extramarital romps under wraps while he was campaigning for president. Elizabeth, in particular, was even criticized for keeping quiet about the scandal.

Asked whether she has forgiven her husband, Elizabeth Edwards replied: "I don’t want to feed the monster, if you don’t mind."

She said that had her leg been amputated, instead of her husband having an affair, people would never ask: "Are you over that leg thing yet?"

Elizabeth Edwards, 59, said she wants her three children to have an image of their father as "an advocate for poverty, not for this current picture of him to be the only one they carry with them, as young people and as adults."

"I have to prepare for the possibility if I die before they are grown and" make them "able to function without an involved, engaged and admiring parent," she said. "So I need to create the picture for them that I want them to have."

Now that her husband has few prospects, if any, for a career in politics, Elizabeth Edwards said she envisions themselves getting involved in antipoverty organizations. She also gave a talk on health care in Philadelphia this week.

She said the couple’s troubles — including her own health — give her insight that lets her focus on "issues that still matter to me, and on the children who are the center of my life."