1 Sister Pauline Joseph is a pseudonym for this Catholic nun, who has asked not to be identified in this text.
2 Ethel’s relationship to Jackie has often been misunderstood. They’re usually portrayed as rivals in accounts of their lives. Though they certainly had their contentious moments, it wasn’t so black-and-white between them. Perhaps some proof of their rapport can be found in a letter Jackie wrote to Ethel on June 6, 1968, after Bobby’s murder, which she addressed to “My Ethel.” She wrote: “No one in the world could have ever been like you were yesterday—except maybe Bobby. I stayed up till 6:30 last night just thinking—and praying for you. I love you so much. You know that … Stas [her brother-in-law] will take little Bobby to Africa. I’ll take them around the world + to the moon + back—anything to help you + them now and always.” She signed it, “With my deepest love, Jackie.”
3 In 2018, Kerry Kennedy would write a book about her father called Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope, which was composed of essays about influential men and women whose lives had in some way been impacted by Bobby.