Let me win,
but if I cannot win
let me be brave
in the attempt.
In a family of competition, prestige and power she was a force. In an era of constraints of gender and social standing she was ambitious, determined and a leader. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the fifth of 9 children and the one daughter to step out front and stand toe to toe with her famous brothers who were groomed by their father for politics and power. She did not sit on the sidelines in her family or in her life, choosing instead to get on the field and play ball with the boys.
Eunice Kennedy would make her own mark and live her own life of service leaving a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment in the fight to bring mental and intellectual challenges out from the shadows. Her younger sister Rosemary was institutionalized most of her life and was given a lobotomy in a treatment that would be unheard of today in many thanks to the work of her sister Eunice.
"You are the stars and the world is watching you. By your presence you send a message to every village,every city,every nation. A message of hope. A message of victory."
Eunice Kennedy Shriver began the dream of what would become The Special Olympics on her front lawn. In 1968 Camp Shriver became Special Olympics holding its first summer games at Soldier's Field in Chicago with 1,000 athletes. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley declared that "the world will never be the same after this". On its 40th anniversary last year Special Olympics events had been held in 181 countries with over 3 million athletes participating.
It is hard to realize in this day what life was like for the families of mentally and intellectually challenged children. Institutionalization and abandonment was common. Mrs. Shriver pushed down the walls and with her characteristic strength and determination and built a new definition and vision of "retardation" and "special needs", a vision centered around Dignity. She changed attitude, she changed laws, she changed lives.
"The right to play on any field? you have earned it. The right to study in any school? You have earned it. The right to hold a job? You have earned it. The right to be anyone's neighbor? You have earned it."
Sargent Shriver said of his wife that "...she does not give ‘pink teas’ or stage society dances with social friends to raise money... Instead, she plays with the children themselves; she works with them; she visits their houses; she starts camps for them and then works in the camps herself."
In 1984 she was awarded the highest civilian honer, the Medal of Freedom. Last year at the 4oth anniversary if Special Olympics Sport's Illustrated honored her with their first Sportsman of the Year Legacy Award.
Mrs. Shriver's determination to bring dignity to the lives of millions is a legacy of hope that has forever changed not only lives but also the perception of those lives.
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