I didn’t go to college, therefore when I tell a historical tale, it’s without pedantic bells and whistles.
But what better way to learn, I say, and a lot more interesting to decipher what you read in your own words.
June 5, 1968 Los Angeles, California.
Robert Francis Kennedy is on a respirator after being gunned down in the kitchen of The Ambassador Hotel.
Here he is, sprawled on the tile floor, a 17 year-old bus boy comforting him. 
He utters a few short sentences, before never regaining consciousness.
Mrs. Kennedy and Ted, the last brother left, are told there is no hope, but can’t bring themselves to shut off the machines keeping Bobby alive.
Jacqueline Kennedy is en route from New York to hold vigil with her late husband’s family, particularly close to RFK, who never left her side when Jack died 5 years earlier.
She’s the one who tells the doctors, on behalf of the Kennedy family, to cease the artificial means, allowing her beloved brother-in-law to peacefully die, with dignity.
26 hours after he’s shot, Robert Francis Kennedy is no more.
He’s 42. 
I’m forever amazed by this story, how once again, Jackie’s strength is called upon as young as she was…34 when she led the country in 1963, 39 as she more or less went through it again.
Where, pray tell, does strength like that come from, and is it fair to have to always be the one to hold everyone else up?
No matter.
What does matter is, knowing that it happened, that in the worst of times, courage rides in on her charger.
I think it was no accident how much Jackie herself, loved to ride.
Waterford, Ireland 1967.
I have this photograph framed, in my living room.
SB
I love history too. For Father’s Day I ordered six biographies of historical figures for Pookie. I thank you for many of your great suggestions.
I don’t mean for this to sound snobbish, but Jackie, her children, and the Kennedy brothers exuded breeding without trying. I read a book around 45 years ago titled ‘The Rich are Different’. It’s sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse, but they are definitely different. Of course I suppose the same is true for the poor or middle class or any other group you could name..
I often wonder where our country would be today if John and Bobby had not been murdered. Too sad to contemplate.
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They were such tender times, like now. It’s amazing how they walk shoulder to shoulder. The rich are different…like that F. Scott Fitzgerald quote…
“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand.” 🙂
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You hear it all the time, that a person is “ahead of their time”, but Jackie truly was. Here was an individual whose substance was constantly being glossed over by the national press of the day. They anointed her the interior designer of the White House, who ushered in the modern age of fashionable mother. And of course she was so much more than that. In a different time, she might have run for office. But I think her importance to the time she lived inside of is without argument. She held shit together when it was threatening to come apart at the seams. She was the constant in a never ending storm.
Well penned essay, SB
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Some people malign her for various things. I don’t. I’ve read too much, about how she was raised, and how men treated her. All that JFK philandering she knew all about, right down to an essay Pete Hamill wrote calling her unseemly names before he knew her. They were dating years later, and his editor, who still had the piece he never ran, decided it now would sure sell papers publishing it unbeknownst to Pete, and when she read it, despite Pete being on his knees with avid remorse, never spoke to him again.
That’s just one story.
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That’s one hell of a story.
And yanno, all the articles that made their way out after she passed, about what she knew of JFK’s infidelities and why she stayed? They miss the whole point. She was nobody’s fool, not ever. People have no earthly idea what their conversations entailed and as much as Camelot is ours, their personal lives were theirs.
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It was complicated, that’s for sure.
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Yes, now THAT was a relationship that would have fallen under the “It’s complicated” definition. For sure.
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Her father was a real philanderer so she thought, it was just part of the deal across the board. She protected herself by leaving on the weekends. Her own innate self possession and preservation I believe, is what got her through all of it. But then again, dying so young, you have to assume, she had much weight to carry that often turns into illness. The stress of it all.
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It was a different time alright.
I will never forget John Jr coming downstairs to address the media after she passed. Telling them that his mother went peacefully. Surrounded by her family, her friends and her books.
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I remember it too. It was right around the corner of where I lived. The entire neighborhood stood vigil.
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BTW…HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.
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You’re so sweet. Thank you SB.
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Class and style in the writing, the subject, and the writer.
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Hi stranger. Thanks. Nice words.
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No ills … just been busy outside the cyberworld. I’m thinking just a bit longer … but wanted to say hello!
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You’re allowed. Cyber life can eat one up if you let it.
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All well with you?
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I guess, as well as it can be coming out of the Pandammit valley.
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Well put. Keep smiling! Did you get a haircut?
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Yes…last week. He sneaked in like a pirate with scissors and cut mine and two others. We couldn’t talk and had to make sure no one saw us go in. It was wild.
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…. and you instantly feel better!
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A little trim goes a long way. 🙂
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I always admired Jackie for her courage and determination to raise good kids in spite of a horrific life. Thanks for the reminder.
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It was nice of you to read it.
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Wonder where courage comes from…I’ve always pondered that and couldn’t find the words that expressed my feeling about it. Franklin D. Roosevelt put it this way:
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”
When something so very meaningful faces you? You suck it up and do what you must…not thinking of anything else…no dread…just doing it…full force ahead…that’s what you do!
Jackie did it…every single time…nothing else mattered. Courage at its finest.
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I appreciate the FDR quote, one I never heard. Thanks.
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Undoubtedly a remarkable lady. I wish I could generate her level of inner strength.
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It’s hard to think all that happened when she was so young.
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Beautifully written, Susannah.
Yes, there are those who always end up being the root that holds the tree up. There will always be those who judge without the facts. That bit you shared with Marc was an eye-opener. I totally get her for never speaking to him again. Honestly. He had a helluva nerve wooing her after penning such an article. And his editor? What a piece of shit.
So, here’s to the gals who manage to hold the fort when all else is coming apart at the seams.
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In spite of it all, you made me laugh. I thought of that great line in Butch Cassidy when Butch says to Sundance…don’t hold back kid, tell me straight.
Pete Hamill is a hero of mine so when I think about this unfortunate incident he only had himself to blame for writing it to to begin with, I still feel for him. He really liked her. Said, going out with her was like dating a fire engine. He also said…it was like taking King Kong, to the beach since she had the most famous face next to the Mona Lisa.
As far as his boss went…yeah…that was pretty low. Not that this justifies Pete’s piece on her, but when she married Aristotle Onassis, America turned on her. Of course, we forgave her, but during that period, she was vilified by all. I remember.
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PS And you’re right…here’s to the strength of women proved over and over again.
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Did I? I am a tell-it-like-it-is broad…
No disrespect to Pete Hamill (sorry, I’m such an illiterate that I know not of him) but yes, he had himself to blame. And you gotta admit it takes a good set of cojones to date her of all people!
His boss was low. And she could have married the (insert name here) and she would have been vilified.
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You’re far from illiterate. Hamill is New York based, so why should you be familiar with him. I wouldn’t know any of your guys. He was younger than she was and very sexy. Real meat and potatoes, if you know what I mean. The Irish working man without the Kennedy money had to be a real nice change for her. And you’re right again…we selfishly wanted her to stay up on her American pedestal when she wanted to live her life. Can’t imagine what it was like being her.
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True ’nuff. But there are some that sneak their way into my conscious… such as now… I will, thanks to you, know the name 😉 And it must have been a nice change for her, you’re right.
Of course we want our heroes to stay with us.
I used to argue with Mick about Robert Plant. He was pissed that Plant didn’t want to do more get-togethers with the rest of Led Zeppelin. I told him he’s ready for other adventures. That is his past. It was great but it’s over… we agreed to disagree 😉
It must have been horrible being her all the time.
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Whenever I saw her, my whole being would halt even though I’d pretend otherwise. I knew what Hamill meant about her striking presence. I see her apartment daily coming back from my run, and still for an instant think, she’ll walk out. Silly, I know.
Agreeing to disagree isn’t easy. I look at what’s happening now and it’s hard to keep one’s composure. Yesterday when they announced the removal of Teddy in front of the Museum of Natural History, I lost it. I mean, if I were in any public place with those demanding his statue to come down, they would have shot me, my opposition that great. I’m about to post a light, pithy essay and think…how could you…but humor and that lightness is the only way I’ve ever known how to survive.
Jackie knew how to do that better than anyone…and you too Dale, carrying on the way you have. Bet there was a time you couldn’t talk about Mick the way you do now. Just a hunch.
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I believe it. Her presence was striking on TV I can only imagine in person it must have been all the more powerful. And no, not silly.
No, it is not. And we see that every day, especially since this Pandammit (I love your word) has started. Why the hell? For what reason would the Teddy statue be removed? It makes no sense.
She did. I dunno. I am such a realist that I have been able to talk about Mick and Austin and pick out the joyful times and focus on them and then move forward. It’s the only movement I know how to do.
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But do see how admirable that is? Awe inspiring. 🙂
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She was, absolutely! 🙂
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I meant you, not Jackie. LOL..Sorry I wasn’t clear.
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I thought you might be but then didn’t want to assume. So I shall correct my response to: Thank you.
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I’m laughing. What else is new.
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Good! Laughter makes the heart happy.
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I’ll say. It’s better than sex, of course I’m saying this in my twilight years.
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Oh darlin’… don’t even! It ain’t over by a long shot.
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That’s what I hear…till that fat lady sings.
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Tell her to keep it down. Her curtain has not been called, yet.
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I’m on the phone now with her. She’s practicing her scales. Do re mi…
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Tell her to take it down a notch. She ain’t done practicing!
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Okay. 🙂
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Good woman 😉
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Re Teddy statue…there’s an Indian and an African American on either side of his horse, so that’s what the whole upset is about. Things are just spinning out of hand at the speed of light. Anarchy if you will.
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Oh FFS…. one should think that is a good thing, no?
It is Anarchy, for sure. Everything is spinning so completely out of control… Jeeezus.
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It’s how things are perceived. I loathe the mob behavior. The actual mob acts better. I may have written that before.
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The mob behaviour is abhorrent. The destructiveness – it’s like cutting off your own nose to spite your face, really. They always destroy the property they frequent, don’t they? It’s bass ackwards.
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It’s bizarre what’s happening and how crazy the behavior has become. They tied a rope around the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Square that faces the White House to try to pull it down, but security came before. It’s creepy to see the extent they’re willing to go. I think there’s a bigger explanation than just Black Lives Matter. It’s not about that.
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I just can’t understand this level of crazy.
It’s so past the Black Lives Matter.
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It was the excuse. Now it’s clearly something else, and the powers that be, who could step in, aren’t. What does that tell you. I think all of it is to screw up the election so that it can only unseat him. And believe me, I’m no fan, but neither am I a fan of this unconstitutional behavior. It’s just plain wrong.
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It was, of that I am certain.
It is not the way to go about unseating him. For God’s sake, do find a way to do so, but not by destroying these works of art that mean something!
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It’s certainly a watershed in our history. Wonder what will happen next.
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Who the hell knows?
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