Do you suppose that Rose Kennedy,
while raising a family of nine children,
could have possibly imagined or foresaw
the large destinies she was shaping?
A President of the United States,
An Attorney General – who, quite possibly,
might have become president also, if he
had not been assassinated like his brother;
Another son who spent decades as a senator,
Grandchildren who would follow
in their parents’ footsteps;
Another handsome young grandson,
Son of a President,
who might also have led a political life,
had he not been cut down in the prime
of his life in an accident;
A granddaughter who would become
the wife of a California Governor–as well
as a well known writer in her own right
A daughter who would create the
Special Olympics–
all of them leading creative lives,
shaping large destinies.
I wonder, sometimes, if
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy,
sitting in church, attending daily mass,
could ever have envisioned such a
widely diverse future for family.
I wonder if it turned out the way she
imagined–or whether the good was
enough, in her mind, to overcome
the bad?
Sandra lee Smith
first compiled October 2012, updated July 5, 2018
