In this branch of the family, what could be considered the heart of the Kennedys, there is a figure that stands out for the resilience she has faced in different stages of her life with some of the most significant losses. Caroline Kennedy (67) was orphaned of herfather, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, at the age of 5, lost her mother Jackie Kennedy Onassis at 36, her brother John John at 41, and currently faces the impending loss of her daughter Tatiana (35), who recently announced that she has terminal cancer.
She was just over three years old when she moved into the White House, where her favorite pastime was walking around the rooms in her mother's heels. Those who know her say she still retains some of the attributes of her adolescence such as shyness, culture, and friendliness. She never considered herself famous and has tried to lead as normal a life as possible, even though for a long time she was protected by several Secret Service agents.
What worried Jacqueline Kennedy the most was the security of her children Caroline and John John. That's why she rejected all of her son's girlfriends: Daryl Hannah, Madonna, or Sarah Jessica Parker. They symbolized what she hated the most, exhibitionism.
And that's why she also hated Ron Galella, the famous paparazzi who always chased them to make their lives impossible and whom she won a lawsuit against for the first time in history in tabloids and gossip magazines. The photographer was banned from being less than eight meters away from Jackie and her children, respectively.
Until they finished their studies, Caroline and her brother resided in the 500-square-meter penthouse that her mother bought at 1040 Fifth Avenue after moving to New York following the assassination in Dallas.
In that palatial apartment, she became close with some of the staff, to the point that when her mother passed away in May 1994, she hired two of them so they wouldn't be left homeless. She even bought a small apartment for them in the same building where she still resides on Park Avenue. What mother and daughter valued most was the discretion and loyalty of their employees.
Such is Caroline's closeness that, as they say, John F. Kennedy's daughter was so concerned about one of the people working in her home that she was always willing to help with whatever was needed. She would drive her to the doctor or to see her loved ones, they would travel to the weekend house, and they even conversed in Spanish.
Since 1986, she has been married to Edwin Schlossberg, a renowned artist and designer who pioneered interactive installations for museums. Jackie adored him. He took care of their daughter, gave her first three grandchildren, and was extremely discreet. At 80 years old, he stoically endures the jokes of his son Jack, who still lives in their home, as can be seen in the videos the young man posts on Instagram.
Graduated in Arts from Radcliffe College at Harvard University and in Law from Columbia, Caroline's interest in politics came late. Although she paid a high price. In 2008, she considered running for the Senate but withdrew her candidacy after being strongly criticized. The Vatican did the same the following year when she was informally appointed as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, but Benedict XVI prohibited it because she was pro-abortion and in favor of stem cell research, in addition to not having studied the required career.
Despite these setbacks, Barack Obama (64) officially appointed her as the country's ambassador to Japan, where she served from 2013 to 2017, the year she resigned from her position because Trump had come to power.
For a year and a half, Caroline has been living for her daughter Tatiana, who in the essay A Battle of my Blood published in The New Yorker, emotionally recounts her diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia with a rare mutation called Inversion 3. It happened hours after giving birth to her daughter on May 25, 2024, when an unusually high number of white blood cells caught the doctors' attention.
The tests were conclusive. Naturally, Tatiana began to remember flashes of her life. In 2017, she married Dr. George Moran, whom she met while both were studying at Yale University, with whom she has two children, Edwin Garrett, three and a half years old, and the aforementioned girl, a year and a half old.
In her essay, Tatiana shows vulnerability while implicitly expressing words of love to her mother: "Throughout my life, I have tried to be good, be a good student, a good sister, and a good daughter, and protect my mother and never make her feel annoyed or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family's life, and there is nothing I can do to prevent it." The young woman has become aware of the curse that the media have echoed for decades.
To make matters worse, to the terminal cancer diagnosis was added last September a variant of the Epstein-Barr virus that damaged her kidneys to the point that she had to learn to walk again.
Since that fateful May, Tatiana has received five sessions of chemotherapy at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where her daughter was born, followed by more cycles of chemo and immunotherapy; she rejected two bone marrow transplants at Memorial Sloan Kettering and participated in two clinical trials. In the last one, the doctor told her that, with luck, she would have one year of life left.
During the trials, her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, which has been a betrayal for the Kennedys.
After her worst nightmares became a reality, Tatiana only had to worry about her husband's situation, as her 'beloved cousin', with no medical knowledge, temporarily cut funding to Columbia University, on which her hospital depends, jeopardizing her job, her colleagues' jobs, and an indefinite number of research projects.
In the essay, she has been very critical of the black sheep of the clan: "As I spent more and more time under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly half a billion dollars from mRNA vaccine research, technology that could be used against certain types of cancer."
Tatiana's illness has led to some public reactions, especially from her family. Her brother Jack (32), who recently announced his congressional candidacy for the United States Congress in the 12th district of New York, used his Instagram Stories over the past weekend with various posts such as excerpts from The New Yorker essay, an image of a paved road followed by a pristine blue sky, and a message: "Life is short, go with the flow."
Her first cousin, journalist Maria Shriver (70), ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, wrote on Instagram: "If today you can only read one thing, please take the time for this extraordinary piece by the extraordinary daughter of my cousin Caroline, Tatiana (...) It is an ode to all the doctors and nurses working on the front lines of humanity. It's many things, but it's best to read it for yourself and be impressed by the life story of a woman. And let it be a reminder to be grateful for the life you are living today, right now, in this very moment."
Her daughter, writer Katherine Schwarzenegger (35), also took to the same social media platform to say, "This is a profound piece written by my extraordinary cousin, Tatiana. It has been shared by many and should be read by all. I am only left with tears and anger reading that this is her reality. She has faced this experience with much grace and I admire her as a person, mother, wife, daughter, writer, and fighter."
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Similarly, two actresses have encouraged reading about the article written by Tatiana on their social media. Jamie Lee Curtis (67) said, "This essay is a tribute, an elegy, a poignant, loving, often funny and devastatingly sad observation, and should be a rallying cry for ALL OF US that this administration should/can do much better (...) The words and gestures of love, pain, and comfort should be for her, her children, her family, and her friends, but she shared them with us for a purpose, and I, for one, will carry forward her valor, care, and outrage."
Mandy Moore (41), star of This Is Us (2016-2022), commented, "Her story and her exquisite way of speaking completely shattered me. To have this grace and vulnerability in the face of what she and her family are going through is impossible to comprehend," and added, "Cuts to cancer research are more than unthinkable. Please do yourself a favor and read this. Sending all the love and good (thoughts) to Tatiana, her husband, and her children."
Tatiana's parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, as well as her eldest daughter, Rose (37), who is said to have inherited the looks of her legendary grandmother Jackie, have not publicly commented at this time.
The publication of A Battle of my Blood on November 22 is significant, as it marked the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather's death. As expected, the environmental journalist also dedicated some beautiful words to her husband, George Moran in the essay: "He is perfect, and I feel so cheated and so sad that I can't continue living the wonderful life I had with this kind, funny, and handsome genius that I was lucky to find." After taking care of their children, who have also been perfectly cared for by their grandparents and uncles during this time, George slept every night on the hospital floor where he also collapsed after endless talks with "doctors and insurers I didn't want to talk to."