Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009), who did so much for the mentally challenged, has been laid to rest. That was a beautiful eulogy by Maria Shriver. The "thank you's" from each of her grandchildren were touching. And the remembrances of her at the wake, by Robert Kennedy Jr. and Ted Kennedy Jr. were quite funny, illustrating that she was "utterly devoid of vanity," passionate, intense, and a bit peculiar. If you haven't had a chance to visit www.eunicekennedyshriver.org, it's well worth perusing. As RFK Jr. noted, you don't have to be a public official to make a huge difference, and her contributions to social progress were equal to her brothers.
George Will: "Eunice was the most consequential Kennedy, at least as measured by the selfless enlargement of happiness. She lived a luminous life, perhaps because of the dark fate of the third oldest of Ted's siblings. Rosemary was mentally retarded. She was lobotomized and institutionalized. This grotesque response by Rosemary's father to her handicap became a blessing for subsequent mentally disabled Americans, whose afflictions summoned Eunice to her vocation of amelioration."
More on Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Rosemary, and the Kennedys' Exemplary Leadership on Mental Retardation.
