The greatest public achievement of Eunice K. Shriver was simply her contribution of effort to advancing the Special Olympics. We take them for granted now, but the first time I attended one with a lady friend of mine who had a brother participating, I was struck by the pure joy on the faces of the participants. The feeling that these special needs kids had that THEY WERE WORTH SOMETHING and could prove it by their participation was heartwarming on the one hand and eyeopening on the other. A person in the crowd could not help but be moved by everything they saw. I remember one participant finishing dead last by many lengths exalting as if he had won the race.....he got a bigger ovation from the crowd than some of the winners. Special Olympics are about the very simple premise ,,I CAN DO IT. That would not have existed without the effort made by Eunice M.K. Shriver. We are all enhanced by the life of Eunice Shriver and a family dedicated to improving the lives of the least among us. It is only by lifting up those citizens at the bottom of the ladder that we rise up ourselves. That is the legacy of Eunice Shriver.

I work with special needs children in a high school and I go with them when they compete in special olympics. I want to thank Eunice Shriver for making all that possible. At these events they are all winners and it makes the special needs feel good. The children wear their medals for months after and are excited and it gives them a purpose. If you are feeling depressed go to a special olympic event and you will leave feeling very grateful and with each smile and feeling of excitement you will feel good too. God Bless Eunice and all involved with making this program a blessing.

People of wealth and power can do three things with their blessings: continue to grow their wealth, attempt to increase their power through politics, or choose to use these blessings to help others. Fortunately for the rest of us, Eunice did the latter. And did she ever help others. Few Americans have done as much good for so many. The male Kennedy's will be remembered for their influence in politics, but Eunice did more to help others than all of her brothers combined. In today's political climate, Jack would be a right wing conservative (cutting taxes, strong on defense) and Bobby would still b e the best Attorney General of my lifetime (and I am a Republican), and Teddy is Teddy, but Eunice is the Kennedy that I most admire.