Community Chat

[froid]

I'm really sorry I missed the thread earlier...I was so sad to hear of Sargent Shriver's passing. May he rest in peace and may his family be comforted by knowing how much he was loved and respected.

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Shriver in the early 1990's when he was campaigning for his son, Mark, who was running for the MD House of Delegates in my district. One evening I answered the door to an older gentleman holding a clipboard, plainly but neatly dressed, and thought maybe he was selling cable TV. When I looked at his face I was so confused for a split second because I felt like I knew him but couldn't figure out the where or why...just as it dawned on me and I started to blurt out .."Oh my gosh, you're..." he put out his hand and said "How do you do, I'm Sargent Shriver and I am campaigning for my son, Mark". I told him that my DH was the Democrat of the household and I was so sorry that he was out of town. Mr. Shriver smiled and told me a story about when "Jack" (JFK) picked his cabinet and was criticized for selecting a Republican (McNamara?) and if I believed that having the very best person for the job was more important than the party, he'd like to talk to me about his son.

Mr Shriver stood there and talked to me most graciously for about 20 minutes. We talked about all kinds of local issues - schools were a hot button for me and he talked about his time as the Superintendent of Chicago schools. I hate to admit it but I also asked him about Maria and Arnold ...he answered with good humor. When he left, I felt like I had been given the gift of a piece of living history! What an incredible experience and what an incredible man!