Quiet and dignified, John’s sister
Caroline is picking up the pieces one year
on and doing what she believes
John would have expected of her
Rumours persist that, despite the
image they projected of a dream couple,
John and Carolyn Bessette’s marriage
was tempestuous and probably on the
rocks as their plane crashed off the
coast of Martha’s Vineyard |
Despite the fact Caroline and
Carolyn Bessette did not enjoy good
relations, the Kennedy siblings
remained close throughout their lives |
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One year after John
Kennedy’s death
CAROLINE KENNEDY
SCHLOSSBERG
PRESERVES
AND PROTECTS HER BELOVED BROTHER’S MEMORY |
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A year after the death of John Kennedy Jr, his wife Carolyn Bessette and
her sister Lauren, a heartbroken Caroline Kennedy is just beginning to emerge
from mourning and once again make the kind of public appearances that
previously formed part of her life.
Her first major event was the presentation of the John F Kennedy Jr Hero Awards
and Caroline confessed to one of the winners that she was doing it to
“support what John wanted.”
In her quiet, dignified way, Caroline, 42, was serving notice that she intends
to do for her brother what she has long done for her mother and father —
preserve, protect and promote his memory.
Though Caroline’s continuing grief is evident to close friends, they say
it is so intensely personal that most never even mention John’s name.
“Caroline has just been trying to make it through this first year,”
says a close family friend.
Rumours persist that John’s marriage to Carolyn Bessette, far from being a
fairytale, was on the rocks at the time of the accident. Other sources assert
that relations between the sisters-in-law were strained as well. “Caroline
and Carolyn had a falling out over Carolyn’s lifestyle and over the people
she consorted with,” says biographer Edward Klein who wrote Jackie’s
story.
But brother and sister apparently remained close.
Now, in her own quiet way, Caroline is trying to put the past behind her. Says
her cousin Joseph Gargan, “She knows that John would want her to be strong
and move on with her life. That’s always been a Kennedy family message: to
pick up and carry on.” |
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