In 1968, when Senator Robert Kennedy was driving through Westchester, New York, he stopped at the new Grasslands Hospital for disturbed and mentally retarded children.
As soon as he walked into the courtyard, his whole demeanor changed seeing these kids, feeling a kinship with anyone hurt, because he hurt, still grieving for the loss of his brother. ![]()
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When he walked into one of the wards, a child around 8 screamed, “Look, it’s President Kennedy.” Bobby, stunned, looked as if he had been hit, yet took the kid in his arms, gently rubbing his neck and shoulders.
According to the journalist, Jack Newfield who was there, he then impulsively announced to the room of nine children, that he’d be right back, and then he’d take them all for a ride.
No one, including the staff, believed him, but ten minutes later there he was helping the kids get dressed as if they were his own, piling all nine into his car where he took them to a nearby store for ice cream.
As excited as the kids, he said to his group of aides…
“When those kids tell their parents, Bobby Kennedy took them out for ice cream, they’ll never get out of this place.”
Just like Lincoln, the saddest of all are still blessed with a sense of humor and peace that surpasses all understanding. ![]()
(1925-1968)
SB
Recommended Reading:
Robert Kennedy, A Memoir. Jack Newfield (1969)