In between the on-going tragedies in Asia and the Middle East, you may have noticed some mentions of a human travesty that occurred sixty-three years ago, when a sweet, mildly retarded young woman was barbarically and irreversably mutilated by order of her very own father, for reasons of pomp and circumstance.
In 1918, Rosemary Kennedy was born into a family that would spawn a beloved president and two impassioned senators. A family that in many ways would come to define American decency and hope, intelligence and mission, honor and duty, fortitude and compassion. Into this fertile setting came a wonderful cherub of a child who played and laughed and enjoyed the fruits of peaceful privilege. For a life marred only by a mild form of mental retardation, this was indeed a stroke of merciful Fate.
As she grew into a tender young woman, the patriarch of the family became increasingly concerned that sometime, somewhere down the road, cruel Fate might step in, bringing forth an unwanted pregnancy or venereal disease or some other potentially scandalous situation. For the youthful spirit had, on occasion, escaped from the convent in which she had been cloistered, for romps in nearby towns or explorations of the world away from the order.
A permanent solution was offered by the medical intelligentsia of the time: stamp out all possibility for this innocent soul to inadvertently bring public scrutiny into the fold by scraping away the frontal lobes of her brain. By doing this, the famous patriarch explained to his family, young Rosie would remain the same lovely spirit who delighted at tea dances and long walks in flowered meadows, but without the burden of sexual impulses that could, however innocently or naturally conjured, bring dishonor and innuendo into their lives.
And so, Rosie's frontal lobes were scraped away. The result was hardly what had been described, as this sweet, thriving and trusting young woman was irreversibly transformed into a blabbering adult infant, unable to do anything on her own other than breathe and stare mindlessy at a blank wall.
This travesty, and the history around it, can be read in lurid detail in author Laurence Leamer's biography entitled "The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family".
Rosemary Kennedy died this past Friday in the private institution she had been kept for the remaining sixty-three years of her life. While the obituaries mention this horrible scenario, many focus not on Rosie herself and the inhuman tragedy which fell upon her due to the possible remaifications caused by unfavorable press, but rather on how the rest of the family coped with their understandable shame... by creating some of the most revered programs for the handicapped, including the Special Olympics. For sure, these efforts have been of immeasurable value to millions of people throughout the world, and the extended Kennedy family should receive the praise and respect they truly deserve.
Through their publicist, the family itself released the following saccharine statement:
"Rosemary was a lifelong jewel to every member of our family," the statement said. "From her earliest years, her mental retardation was a continuing inspiration to each of us and a powerful source of our family's commitment to do all we can to help all persons with disabilities live full and productive lives."
Some things never change.
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