Caroline Kennedy is first and foremost a wife and
mother. That is a key priority for her. Caroline saw how
important it was to her as a child.” - Paul Kirk Jr.,
chairman of the
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Greetings from a man
contemplating two women,
I hope this message
finds you looking and learning. In recent days, I
certainly have been. I spent
last
Saturday morning with five exceptional women. Let
me take a moment to reflect upon two of them.
In 1960, on the
night John
F. Kennedy returned from the
Democratic
National Convention as the party's nominee for
President, his two-year-old daughter Caroline toddled out
of the family's
Hyannis Port
home to greet her father. Immediately a fusillade
of photographers' camera bulbs went off, and the
frightened Caroline turned away. “Don't be afraid,” J.F.K.
told her. “They won't hurt you.” In the 48 years since,
Caroline Kennedy has rarely run willingly into the glare
of public attention. Instead, she has allowed her cousins
to inherit the Kennedy legacy of political ambition.
Caroline has chosen instead to tend to her three children
and walk anonymously through New York City 's streets.
"Caroline Kennedy
has a strong sense of personal responsibility. She knows
she has serious work to do." -
Historian David McCullough
Caroline has also chosen to give
something back. Though not driven to politics as were
J.F.K. and his brothers, Caroline has nonetheless compiled
a record of quiet but diligent service to the public, and
to her father's legacy, that reflects a commitment to
civic life and a belief in the value of rigorous,
reflective debate.
On
Saturday morning, Caroline addressed the challenges
facing contemporary education in the United States of
America. In recent years,
Caroline served as
chief executive for the Office of Strategic Partnerships
for the New
York City Department of Education where she helped
raise more than $65 million in private support for the
city’s public schools. Suffice it to say, Caroline spoke
passionately about the glorious gift of education.
“My children are the only
thing in my life that ever really anchored me. I just
enjoy them more than anyone else in the world. I would
rather hang out with them than anyone else. I find my
children infinitely fascinating.” –
Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange’s
twenty-five year career as an actress has been highlighted
by her intelligent and powerful performances in over 20
films. Jessica never set out to be a "box office"
attraction and instead chose roles that held a special
interest to her. Only a handful of her films have been big
financial hits ("Tootsie",
"Cape Fear") Her most memorable roles have
been Southern women like Meg MacGrath in
"Crimes of the Heart",
Patsy Cline
in
"Sweet Dreams", and Carly Marshall in
"Blue Sky" for which she won her second
Academy
Award. And then there are
Tennessee
Williams’ works in which Jessica has played Maggie
the
"Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" and
Blanche DuBois in
"A
Streetcar Named Desire".
“Of the women and children who survive the stunning
brutality, the physical, emotional and psychological
damage will last a lifetime. The world must stop the
horror and help the survivors.” – Jessica Lange
On Saturday morning,
Jessica Lange did not speak about her film career.
Instead, she choose to speak about the horror of war.
Jessica is a
Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF. In 2003,
Jessica went on
her first
UNICEF mission, to the Democratic Republic of
Congo, a country ravaged by war. The
conflict in
Democratic Republic of the Congo was one of the
most deadly wars ever documented in Africa. The war
claimed an estimated 3.3 million lives - mostly women,
children and elderly. In 2003,
the
Pretoria Accord was signed by all warring parties
to end the fighting and establish a government of
national
unity.
Jessica visited the eastern part of DRC to help draw
attention to the impact on children and women of the
five-year long conflict and to denounce the endemic use of
sexual violence as a weapon of war. Jessica visited
UNICEF supported-projects and met with victims of sexual
violence, representatives from women’s organizations,
HIV/AIDS peer educators, demobilized child soldiers,
health workers, displaced children and families, local
government authorities and humanitarian aid partners.
In 2008, the population of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo is 65,751,512. An estimated 2% of the people in the
DRC are living with HIV/AIDS.
As I listened to Caroline and Jessica, I recalled
JFK's
Pulitzer
Prize winning book "Profiles in Courage". Both of
these women are
profiles in courage and both have a strong sense of
personal responsibility. I feel blessed to have been in
their presence.
On a different, but at the same time related note, I shall
pass along a mathematical . . .
Question
Of The Day
Caroline Kennedy's pony, Macaroni, was a present from
Lyndon
Johnson. Macaroni roamed freely around the
White House
grounds and received thousands of fan letters from the
American public. Caroline also had a famous dog named
Pushinka, who was given to her by the head of the
Soviet Union,
Nikita
Khrushchev.
When Lyndon Johnson gave Macaroni to Caroline, the
pony was four times as old as Pushinka. Two years later,
Macaroni was twice as old as Pushinka. How old was
Macaroni when Caroline received her equine gift?
With thoughts of Caroline, Jessica, Macaroni, and Pushinka,
Bob
