Today is the day of Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral mass. The Mass of the Resurrection. Good and faithful servant welcomed home. My mind is drawn to the intellectually disabled daughter of Joe and Rose Kennedy, Rosemary. I remember reading years and years ago that this daughter had been institutionalized as a girl and remember how shocking that was to me. What! Their sister had been sent away because in those days family's couldn't cope. There were no support services in the community, etc. Recently, I read that a lobotomy had been tried to improve Rosemary's abilities. It was not successsful. Rosemary's sister Eunice experienced all of this within her family and grew up and then when she could make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities, she did. She established the Special Olympics. I marvel at this... her personal pain transformed into hope offered to others. Thank God for Eunice and for all the people who make life better for others.
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