What Holidays Are Like For The Kennedy Family, According To Maria Shriver
The well-known Kennedy family has unfortunately dealt with many tragedies, but one member of the family does not let any past struggles stop her and her family from enjoying holiday celebrations. In an October 2019 interview with People at an Ancestry event, Maria Shriver spoke about family gatherings for the holidays and which one is her favorite.
"I always write about Thanksgiving being my favorite holiday because it doesn't involve gifts," Shriver said. "It involves kind of this shared sense of family, this larger sense of family. ... It's just kind of deeper and quieter and people are talking and connecting." She went on to express how special it is to her to get together with her family during the holidays, especially with her brothers (even if they can't all always make it).
Shriver also understood that some people don't enjoy going back home for the holidays, but she always stays optimistic that gatherings will be enjoyable. She said, "And I am a big believer in setting the intention for it and then manifesting that." The journalist added how the topics of discussions vary when her family gets together, and of course, politics gets brought up sometimes, "But I won't just bring it up to start a fight."
Shriver loves traditions and good conversations with family
A few weeks after the event in 2019, Ancestry published an article written by Maria Shriver titled, "Advice from Maria Shriver for Making Your Holidays More Meaningful." She expressed the importance of bonding with your family during the holiday season and said, "[Ancestry and I] share this belief that a deeper understanding of yourself, your heritage and your history helps create deeper connections across generations and uncover shared experiences that bind us together." Shriver then outlined ways to make family gatherings better, for example, by passing down "family mementos" instead of exchanging traditional gifts.
Holiday traditions and fostering good conversations are important to Shriver. On her website, she shared a Christmas season tradition that she and her family liked to stick with, which includes discussing a Biblical passage and giving each member of the family a chance to share how they feel. Although Shriver and her ex-husband Arnold Schwarzenegger divorced after 25 years of marriage, she hasn't let that stop her from enjoying any holidays with her family.
Shriver spent much of her life in Hyannis Port and considers it 'home'
The Kennedys are known for their iconic Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Many members of the family spent lots of time there growing up, and Maria Shriver is no exception. After Shriver learned Arnold Schwarzenegger cheated on her and had another child due to that affair, she filed for divorce in 2011. But according to Daily Mail, Shriver still headed to Massachusetts that year to spend part of the summer with her family despite (or perhaps because of) her personal upheavals.
In a July 2019 Instagram post, Shriver explained just how much Hyannis Port meant to her. She shared a photo of her and her family from a previous year at the coast and captioned it, "I'm going home today!" Although Shriver lives in Los Angeles, she considered Hyannis Port her real home because of her family ties to it.
"Well, my brothers are there," Shriver's caption continued, "my cousins are there, my parents are buried there, and my childhood home ... [is] there ... as are my memories." Shriver even admitted to not enjoying her returns to Hyannis Port in the past, but her tune changed. "Now I'm so excited I could cry," Shriver added. "How do you feel when you go 'home'?"