Eunice Kennedy Shriver, coming from a family of achievers still stands out as an awesome woman.
One of the Kennedy sisters, Rosemary had a form of (probably) Down Syndrome This led Eunice to found the Special Olympics for children with mental disabilities.
The Kennedy parents instilled in all their children a sense of always doing your best and of giving back. Because they had much, much was expected of them. Eunice surely exemplified this in her whole life. Had she only created the Special Olympics, - a major achievement on its own, that would have insured her a place in history; but she was a founder of the National Institute of Child Health and founded the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center or Community of Caring, which was a K-12 school focusing on children with disabilities and developing character. And furthermore was always involved in children’s health issues.
She was a mother of five, and eventually grandmother of nineteen, and still gave tirelessly to raise awareness of mental disabilities across the world. Of course it was not just raising awareness, but actively working to make sure there was help and hope for them.
Here is an exerpt from her eulogy:
Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing—searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy."
Eunice Kennedy Shriver is someone whom I admired all my life and was truly an awesome woman.
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