Read Online Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family by David Batcher Amber Hunt, David Batcher - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David Batcher Amber Hunt, David Batcher
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XII—in Rome. Afterward, she joined Joe for two months at a resort on the Riviera.
The Kennedys gathered for their traditional Hyannis Port Thanksgiving, with dinner for thirty-three. It was a merry scene. “Jack gets a great kick out of seeing Ted dance,” Rose wrote, “as Ted has [a] great sense of rhythm, but he is so big and has such a big derriere it is funny to see him throw himself around.” Joan played the piano, and Jackie demonstrated the Twist for the assembled mothers, fathers, children, and grandchildren. Rose was happy, despite Joe’s insistence on serving squash and sweet potatoes at the meal. (She objected to there being two vegetables of the same color.) Joe carved the turkey, held court, and played with the grandchildren.
The loveliness of the holiday would take on a bittersweet quality in retrospect. Ten days prior to Thanksgiving, Joe had suffered “an attack,” as Rose would put it in her diary. He “is not at all himself but quiet, complains about a lack of taste in his mouth and feels blah, he says. For the first time—I have noticed he has grown old.” Others at the Thanksgiving dinner noticed he was not quite himself, but Joe, whether out of denial or Kennedy grit, insisted that there was nothing wrong.
The family gathered again in Palm Beach the next month for Christmas. Presidential business called Jack back to Washington on December 19, though, and Joe took Caroline and saw him off at the airport, where father and son chatted briefly before Jack boarded Air Force One. After dropping Caroline at home, he and niece Ann Gargan went to play nine holes at the Palm Beach Country Club. While on the course, Joe felt faint and disoriented; seeing that his balance was compromised, Ann took him home. He reported feeling better and went upstairs under his own power, where he fell asleep.
Waking just five minutes later, he was unable to speak or move on his right side. He had suffered a massive stroke.
Jackie and Ann rushed with him to the hospital. By the time other Kennedy children started arriving later in the day, he had developed pneumonia, sunk into a coma, and received last rites. Rose could only pace his room and pray. Against the odds, though, Joe survived. He woke the next day and seemed to recognize Rose and the children. By Christmas Eve the doctors declared him out of danger, and by December 29 he was able to sit up. Though he’d never regain movement on his right side or the ability to communicate in words, he was otherwise healthy: His vital signs were good and his heart was strong. After several weeks, he returned to Palm Beach, where niece Gargan, the reenlisted Luella Hennessey, and nurse Rita Dallas would see to his daily care.
Rose resumed her speaking engagements, raising money and helping with Teddy’s senatorial bid throughout the state in 1962. The following spring she was with Joe when, entire Kennedy retinue in tow, he was flown north to begin further treatment at the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York. She stayed with him at Horizon House, a bungalow on the hospital grounds, specially fitted for wheelchair-bound patients. Every evening, they quietly ate dinner and then watched television together.
Joe’s case was overseen by Dr. Henry Betts, who was impressed with the closeness of the Kennedy family, their relentless positivity, and the complete absence of any pity toward their father. He saw a great warmth between Rose and Joe. “My impression was that she adored him,” he’d later say. It seemed to him that Joe “was very content” in her presence. LuellaHennessey saw the devotion, but not the warmth: “She was awfully good to him when he had his stroke,” she said. “It wasn’t what one would call a normal relationship between a husband and wife. . . . Rose took care of him but there was very little feeling left. It had gone so many years ago.”
Months of rehab did little to improve Joe; he could feed himself, and his
The Kennedys gathered for their traditional Hyannis Port Thanksgiving, with dinner for thirty-three. It was a merry scene. “Jack gets a great kick out of seeing Ted dance,” Rose wrote, “as Ted has [a] great sense of rhythm, but he is so big and has such a big derriere it is funny to see him throw himself around.” Joan played the piano, and Jackie demonstrated the Twist for the assembled mothers, fathers, children, and grandchildren. Rose was happy, despite Joe’s insistence on serving squash and sweet potatoes at the meal. (She objected to there being two vegetables of the same color.) Joe carved the turkey, held court, and played with the grandchildren.
The loveliness of the holiday would take on a bittersweet quality in retrospect. Ten days prior to Thanksgiving, Joe had suffered “an attack,” as Rose would put it in her diary. He “is not at all himself but quiet, complains about a lack of taste in his mouth and feels blah, he says. For the first time—I have noticed he has grown old.” Others at the Thanksgiving dinner noticed he was not quite himself, but Joe, whether out of denial or Kennedy grit, insisted that there was nothing wrong.
The family gathered again in Palm Beach the next month for Christmas. Presidential business called Jack back to Washington on December 19, though, and Joe took Caroline and saw him off at the airport, where father and son chatted briefly before Jack boarded Air Force One. After dropping Caroline at home, he and niece Ann Gargan went to play nine holes at the Palm Beach Country Club. While on the course, Joe felt faint and disoriented; seeing that his balance was compromised, Ann took him home. He reported feeling better and went upstairs under his own power, where he fell asleep.
Waking just five minutes later, he was unable to speak or move on his right side. He had suffered a massive stroke.
Jackie and Ann rushed with him to the hospital. By the time other Kennedy children started arriving later in the day, he had developed pneumonia, sunk into a coma, and received last rites. Rose could only pace his room and pray. Against the odds, though, Joe survived. He woke the next day and seemed to recognize Rose and the children. By Christmas Eve the doctors declared him out of danger, and by December 29 he was able to sit up. Though he’d never regain movement on his right side or the ability to communicate in words, he was otherwise healthy: His vital signs were good and his heart was strong. After several weeks, he returned to Palm Beach, where niece Gargan, the reenlisted Luella Hennessey, and nurse Rita Dallas would see to his daily care.
Rose resumed her speaking engagements, raising money and helping with Teddy’s senatorial bid throughout the state in 1962. The following spring she was with Joe when, entire Kennedy retinue in tow, he was flown north to begin further treatment at the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York. She stayed with him at Horizon House, a bungalow on the hospital grounds, specially fitted for wheelchair-bound patients. Every evening, they quietly ate dinner and then watched television together.
Joe’s case was overseen by Dr. Henry Betts, who was impressed with the closeness of the Kennedy family, their relentless positivity, and the complete absence of any pity toward their father. He saw a great warmth between Rose and Joe. “My impression was that she adored him,” he’d later say. It seemed to him that Joe “was very content” in her presence. LuellaHennessey saw the devotion, but not the warmth: “She was awfully good to him when he had his stroke,” she said. “It wasn’t what one would call a normal relationship between a husband and wife. . . . Rose took care of him but there was very little feeling left. It had gone so many years ago.”
Months of rehab did little to improve Joe; he could feed himself, and his
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