Michelle Obama, who’s kept a relatively low profile since, you know, came out briefly tonight, as always, for the greater good. Since I’ve been watching her carpool karaoke on repeat with my mom, it’s nice to have some fresh material.
In the spirit of Michelle, though, let’s talk about Eunice Kennedy Shriver, to whom my one true FLOTUS came to award a posthumous Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs. Shriver–sister of John F. Kennedy–founded the Special Olympics in 1968, which she grew from a summer camp at her home into an international event. “[Y]ou’d be hard pressed to find another member of the family who’s done more,” her brother Edward had said in 2007, two years before her death.
Obama says:
Through her passionate service, she made our world more welcoming, inclusive, and fair. Not just for the athletes she empowered, but for us all. She honored the highest traditions of athletic history using sports to break barriers and change hearts and minds. So alongside heroes like Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali, and Arthur Ashe, there’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
And there’s Michelle Obama. “My mother would have loved you,” says Shriver’s son Tim, who accepted the award on her behalf.
