The Nine of Us by Jean Kennedy Smith

I don’t want to think about the inauguration today. I did not vote for the Orange One and I worry about what the future will bring. So today, I would rather flash back to a happier episode in the late 1980s. My sister and I were attending an opening night party at a bar on the upper west side of New York City where my dad had just opened an off Broadway play. Kathleen and I felt quite swell. We were wearing very spiffy new suits from Ann Taylor with oversized blazers containing shoulder pads that were quite fashionable back then. At the event, we were talking to a friend of my dad’s named Jack Winter. He was stunned at how grown up my sister and I looked, and how mature my brother, Scott appeared, too.  (Jack knew a lot of famous people and politicians. And so we hung on his every word when he spoke of public figures.) “You two remind me of Ross Perot’s daughters. “Very steady.“ “Why thank you,” I said, impressed. Jack continued, “But Scott reminds me of one of the Kennedys.” What? Come again?! I was outraged that I was classified as a ‘Perot Girl’ while my brother was allowed entry to Camelot. How was this possible? Why couldn’t I remind him of a Kennedy, too?! I have never forgotten that story or how much I wanted Jack to find me worthy of a Kennedy comparison. Since then, the Kennedy women and men have always fascinated me. I just saw the movie “Jackie,” which was slow but fascinating, the same week I was reading  “The Nine of Us” by Jean Kennedy Smith.  It is a small book that describes what it was like to be a young child growing up as a Kennedy. She is the last surviving child of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. This book contains some of the most charming pictures that I have ever seen of the Kennedy family when they were young. You can see skinny John F. Kennedy, who was often sick and spent time reading in bed. You can see Bobby Kennedy, an avid stamp collector. And then there was the handsome older brother, Joe, along with the cherubic baby, Teddy. Joe and Rose raised their nine children to read and understand world events. Rose often clipped newspaper articles and safety-pinned them to her bathrobe to read them to the children later. And, the family posed quizzes to each other during dinner that often included questions such as, “What would you do if you were president of the United States?” Most of the tragedy that would befall the family years later is not discussed in this book. “The Nine of Us” is a charming look back on the early days of being a Kennedy when everyone had to learn how to be a sailor while the future was only filled with hope. I would buy this book for the pictures alone, but the text is also wonderful. Even if Jean’s memories are through rose-colored glasses, they are memories to be appreciated and treasured, too, especially today when the future of our country is so unpredictable. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.