Elizabeth Smart Reveals Her Mom's Best Advice

Elizabeth Smart Reveals Her Mom's Best Advice

Elizabeth Smart opens up to Anderson Cooper about her recent wedding and shares the most valuable piece of advice her mother ever gave her.

When asked about her recent marriage to Matthew Gilmour, Elizabeth said during an appearance on Anderson that it was a beautiful ceremony on the North Shore of Hawaii. "It was great. It was perfect. I wouldn't change it."

Elizabeth Smart Gets Engaged

Elizabeth -- who was kidnapped at age 14 from her Salt Lake City home and held captive for nine months -- revealed that the day after she returned home, her mother gave her the best advice she's ever had. "She said, 'Elizabeth, what this man has done to you is terrible. There aren't words strong enough to describe how wicked and evil he is. He has taken 9 months of your life that you can never get back again. Don't give him another minute."

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She said her mother's advice continued: "The best punishment you can ever give him is to be happy, is to follow your dreams and do exactly what you want to do. I think that can apply to each one of us, granted we're not all kidnapped, but we all have hard times and we all can choose to allow that to overwhelm our lives or allow it to push us forward and be happy."

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Elizabeth also speaks about the abduction case of British girl Madeleine McCann, who remains missing nearly five years after disappearing at age three while on vacation with her parents in Portugal. British police recently asked Portugal to reopen Madeleine's case and Elizabeth said she believes it's very possible that Madeleine might still be found alive.

Check your local listings for when you can watch Elizabeth's full interview on tomorrow's edition of Anderson.