Shona Laing released "(Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy" in 1985. It was originally from her 'Genre' album and then included on her 'South' album a couple of years later.... after it had exploded and became her defining moment. The song actually came from trivial beginnings. On television there was something about the Kennedy's that made her say out loud "Glad I'm not a Kennedy" - obviously because of the tragedies that have struck the family throughout. In fact, the tragedies continued after this song was written - with the plane crash which took the lives of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in 1999.
One Kennedy tragedy was that of Rosemary Kennedy, the daughter of Joe and Rose, born in 1918. This was a very different kind of tragedy and one that only came to my attention when she died in 2005. While she lived to a ripe old age, her story was just as sad as the others, worse in the fact that it was based on a decision by her father that changed everything.
Due to a long and delayed birth she was deprived of oxygen for long periods, which may have contributed to some intellectual disabilities. As she grew up she blossomed into a beautiful young lady. She was a popular Kennedy daughter and her slowness more or less went unnoticed by the adoring general public.
Unfortunately for her, her siblings were succeeding academically and on the sports fields while she fell behind. Her behaviour was becoming more erratic and puberty wasn't making things easier for her parents and the reputation of the family. In response, it was decided that she would have a prefrontal lobotomy... at the age of 23. She was one of the first to have this new precedure. Her father was told it would settle her mood swings etc. But what it really did was incapacitate her and left her institutionised for the rest of her life - with the mental capacity of a 2-year old. A total disaster!
I've just started reading the biography 'Rosemary: The hidden Kennedy daughter' by Kate Clifford Larson and I already accept it's going to be an emotionally difficult read.
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