Shriver Wake a Fitting Farewell

As I told you on Tuesday, there was always something special about Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Although she was born into the formidable Kennedy clan, she never seemed to let her wealth and privilege allow her to lose touch with the so-called common man. On the contrary, her tireless work on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities touched millions of lives worldwide, and will undoubtedly continue to do so after her death.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that I found her wake Thursday afternoon an affair that fit her spirit. Her family held a six-hour public wake at her home church on Cape Cod, and patiently greeted each mourner almost like family — the Kennedy clan introduced themselves by first name, asked people how far they had traveled and quietly listened to people’s stories and memories.

"It was so warm and friendly and open," Barbara Johnson, a nursing director at a center for disabled adults who came because of Shriver's work on behalf of the mentally retarded, told the Boston Globe. "I shook hands with every member of that family and they appreciated us, which was so welcoming."

Dignitaries mingled with folks she supported for so many years, including members of Cape Abilities, a disability advocacy group on the Cape, which carried bunches of brightly colored flowers into the church.

Her family held a brief half-hour church service just before opening its doors to the public. Her funeral will take place on Friday and is only open to invited guests — although we wonder whether that’s what she would have wanted.

Her son-in-law, California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, must have wondered the same thing, because he tweeted, "Being here right now, I can just hear Eunice saying, 'Don't make this so much about me. Make this a call to service.'"

So perhaps we should.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Russian artist Zurab Tsurateli featured at left.