Maria Shriver Addresses Tatiana Schlossberg’s Terminal Cancer Battle

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Maria Shriver is commending Tatiana Schlossberg for her bravery. 

The author of I’ve Been Thinking… recently praised her cousin Caroline Kennedy’s daughter. The 35-year-old wrote a heartfelt article for The New Yorker revealing she has acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and serious blood cancer, and has been given a terminal diagnosis.

In her November 23rd newsletter, Maria wrote that Caroline shared a touching story about Tatiana, who is bravely facing a terminal illness. Despite the difficult circumstances, Caroline and her family are thankful for Tatiana’s strength and that she was able to join their holiday dinner. Maria described Tatiana’s story as honest, moving, and deeply affecting.

She added that she was incredibly proud of Tatiana for sharing her story and writing the article. She praised Tatiana’s words as powerful, honest, and courageous, saying every sentence resonated with truth. She also expressed pride in Tatiana’s decision to share how this experience has impacted her remarkable husband, George, her wonderful parents, and their loving family.

The 70-year-old continued by sharing her hope that Tatiana is celebrated for sharing her story.

She expressed hope that Tatiana’s story would be received with kindness and understanding, and that her mother would also receive support. She praised the mother as a true hero and source of inspiration, noting her remarkable ability to find something to be thankful for each day and consistently impress others.

Okay, so the reporter ended her piece by talking about a recent family moment – and honestly, it just hit me. It was like, she was going through all this craziness, and remembering something simple with her family gave her a whole new way of looking at things. It was so relatable, and it really stuck with me. It felt… grounding, you know? Like she found some peace in remembering that’s what really matters.

Maria remembered being in New York City just two weeks prior, sharing stories and laughter around the kitchen table with loved ones – a moment that felt perfectly normal. But on her walk home that night, she began to think about the many families facing similar hardships and heartbreaking diagnoses.

She also reflected on the hidden struggles many people face, battles they keep to themselves or that aren’t obvious to others. This is why she believes it’s so crucial to be understanding and forgiving towards one another. You never truly know what someone is going through, and while the world can be difficult, we have the power to choose kindness, compassion, and grace instead.

Maria’s daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger, also praised Tatiana after her essay came out, saying it was widely shared and everyone should read it.

Maria remembered being in New York City just two weeks prior, sharing stories and laughter around the kitchen table with everyone, feeling like things were normal. But on her walk home that night, she began to think about all the families facing similar hardships and heartbreaking diagnoses.

She also reflected on the hidden struggles many people face, battles they keep to themselves or that aren’t obvious to others. That’s why she believes it’s crucial to be understanding and forgiving towards everyone. You never truly know what someone else is dealing with. While the world can be difficult, we have the power to respond with grace, positivity, empathy, and kindness – qualities the world desperately needs.

Maria’s daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger, also praised Tatiana after the essay came out, saying it had been widely shared and deserved to be read by everyone.

Honestly, reading her story brought me to tears and filled me with so much frustration – it’s just heartbreaking to know this is what she’s been going through. I’m completely amazed by her; she’s handled everything with such incredible grace. I truly admire her, not just as a public figure, but as a mother, wife, daughter, writer, and someone who just keeps fighting, no matter what.

Katherine expressed her continued gratitude for the doctors and nurses caring for Tatiana. She also urged people to read Tatiana’s own words about how current issues – like funding cuts and general uncertainty – are affecting both medical professionals and patients like Tatiana, who has been receiving treatment for the last year and a half. She closed with prayers and love for Tatiana and her family.

Keep reading for more on the extended Kennedy family tree…

Joseph Patrick “Joe” Kennedy married Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald on Oct. 7, 1914.

By 1932, Joseph and Rose Kennedy had nine children: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., John F. Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy.

Born July 25, 1915, Joe Jr. was going to be president, as far as his father was concerned.

He attended the 1940 Democratic National Convention and intended to run for Congress after his service in the Navy. Tragically, the 29-year-old and his co-pilot, Wilford John Willy, died on August 12, 1944. They were carrying explosives on a bombing mission as part of Operation Aphrodite when the explosives unexpectedly detonated.

The bodies of both pilots were never found, and they are remembered on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, which honors those who died in World War II.

John, born on May 29, 1917, began his political career in Congress before becoming a U.S. Senator, and eventually won the presidency in 1960.

He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. They had two children: Caroline Kennedy, born November 27, 1957, and John F. Kennedy Jr., born November 25, 1960.

The couple tragically lost a daughter, Arabella, who was stillborn in 1956. Several years later, their son, Patrick, was born prematurely on August 7, 1963, but he sadly lived for only 39 hours.

JFK was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, one of the defining events of the 20th century.

Caroline served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan under President Obama and to Australia under President Biden. She married Edwin “Ed” Schlossberg in 1986.

Caroline Kennedy and her husband have three children: Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, born June 25, 1988; Tatiana Kennedy Schlossberg, born May 5, 1990; and John “Jack” Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, born January 19, 1993.

TV producer Rose went to Harvard like her mom and married restaurateur Rory McAuliffe in 2022.

Tatiana, a journalist, later discovered a surprising connection to a 2014 New York Times article she wrote about a bear found dead in Central Park – it involved her cousin, RFK Jr. She graduated from Yale and married her college boyfriend, George Moran, in 2017. They have two children: a son, Edwin Jr., born in 2022, and a daughter born in 2024.

 

In a November 2025 essay for The New Yorker, Tatiana revealed she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and terminal blood cancer, according to her doctors.

Jack, a graduate of both Yale and Harvard (where he earned a law and business degree), gained attention for his engaging social media presence. He spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention and reported on the recent presidential election for Vogue magazine.

In a 2024 interview with Vogue, he shared that his family’s history of helping others motivates him. He feels a strong responsibility to carry on that tradition and wants to make a difference, both by pursuing his long-term goals and by contributing meaningfully in the present.

 

I remember when John F. Kennedy Jr. was named People‘s Sexiest Man Alive back in 1988 – it felt like the whole world was captivated! Before he married Carolyn Bessette, he was seriously considered one of the most desirable bachelors anywhere. Their wedding on September 21st, 1996, was a huge event, and everyone was so happy for them – she was a publicist for Calvin Klein, and they seemed perfect together.

John F. Kennedy Jr. tragically died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999, mirroring his father’s early death. He was with his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, at the time, bringing immense grief to his family.

Rosemary (at right, with sister Kathleen and mom Rose) was born Sept. 13, 1918.

Rosemary went to a boarding school for students who struggled with learning. However, she also had behavioral problems, and at age 23, her father authorized a prefrontal lobotomy in an attempt to address them.

Rosemary underwent an experimental treatment intended to address her mental illness, and while her father, Joe, had hoped for a positive outcome, the procedure left her severely disabled. She spent the remainder of her life, until January 7, 2005, living in an institution.

Rose later told historian Doris Kearns Goodwin that she’d always thought her daughter could have had a more relaxed life within the Kennedy family. However, everything changed—and was lost—in just a few minutes.

Born Feb. 20, 1920, Kathleen got a kick out of life, hence her jaunty nickname.

She married William Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, in a simple London ceremony on May 6, 1944. Her mother disapproved of the match because he wasn’t Catholic, so only her brother, Joe Jr., attended the wedding.

A month later, William, a major in the British Army, was killed by a sniper in Belgium.

She stayed in England and became romantically involved with William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, who was married at the time. Tragically, both of them died in a plane crash on May 13, 1948, while traveling to the French Riviera, before he could finalize a divorce.

Eunice was born July 10, 1921.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a passionate advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and the creator of the Special Olympics, wed Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. on May 23, 1953.

They had five children: Robert “Bobby” Shriver III (born April 28, 1954), Maria Shriver (born November 6, 1955), Timothy (born August 29, 1959), Mark (born February 17, 1964), and Anthony (born July 20, 1965).

Maria Shriver married Arnold Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986, at the Kennedy family estate in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver were the governor and first lady of California from November 2003 to January 2011. Their marriage ended shortly after Arnold revealed he had a son, Joseph Baena, with their family’s housekeeper.

Eunice passed away at the age of 88, leaving behind 19 grandchildren. This included Maria Shriver’s four children from her previous marriage: Katherine (born December 13, 1989), Patrick (born September 18, 1993), Christina (born July 23, 1991), and Christopher (born September 27, 1997).

Katherine married Chris Pratt on June 8, 2019, and they have three children together: Lyla (born August 6, 2020), Eloise (born May 21, 2022), and Ford (born November 8, 2024). Chris also has a son, Jack (born August 17, 2012), from his previous marriage to Anna Faris.

Patricia, born on May 6, 1924, became connected to the famous Rat Pack when she married Peter Lawford on April 24, 1954.

She and her British actor husband had four children: Christopher Lawford (born 1955), Sydney Maleia Lawford (1956), Victoria Francis Lawford (1958), and Robin Elizabeth Lawford, before their divorce in 1966.

Peter, who passed away in 1984, was a close friend and advisor to his brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy. He’s widely believed to be the one who first introduced JFK to Marilyn Monroe when she visited the home of his sister and her husband in Malibu.

Patricia died in 2006. Her son, Christopher, who had been married three times, passed away in 2018 after a heart attack.

The son known familiarly to the whole country as Bobby Kennedy married Ethel Skakel on June 17, 1950.

They had a large family, with eleven children named Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Maxwell, Douglas, and Rory.

Ethel was pregnant with Rory when Bobby was tragically killed by a gunshot on June 6, 1968, just after winning the California Democratic primary election.

It still breaks my heart thinking about David. He was so young, only 28 when he passed away on April 25th, 1984. And then, years later, Michael… it was just awful. A skiing accident on New Year’s Eve, 1997, in Aspen. They said he was even tossing a football around with family – just being Michael – and then… that tree. He was only 37, and left behind three beautiful children with his wife, Victoria Gifford. It’s just… devastating. I still can’t believe it.

Ethel Kennedy experienced the loss of her husband when her oldest child was just 16 years old, but she later became a grandmother to 34 grandchildren. Sadly, she also outlived two of them: 22-year-old Saoirse Hill, the daughter of Courtney and Paul Hill, who died in 2019 from an accidental drug overdose, and 40-year-old Maeve Kennedy McKean, the daughter of Kathleen and David Townsend, who died in a canoeing accident in 2020.

RFK Jr., born Jan. 17, 1954, is a thrice-married father of six.

He and his first wife, Emily Black, have two children: Robert Francis Kennedy III (born in 1984) and Kathleen Kennedy (born in 1988).

They divorced in 1994 after 12 years of marriage. 

RFK III has been married to CIA analyst turned author and TV host Amaryllis Fox since 2017.

The couple have three children: a daughter named Bobby, born January 7, 2019, a son named Cassius Watts Thoreau Kennedy, born August 30, 2021, and Amaryllis’ daughter Zoë from a previous relationship.

 

In a 2012 interview with Town & Country, the Stanford graduate explained their belief that life is simply a series of experiences—both positive and negative—and that having many of them enriches your life.

After Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck in August 2024, even a brief acquaintance with him—as one source described it—catapulted Kick Kennedy to the top of social media trending lists.

A representative for Ben Affleck immediately denied rumors of a romantic relationship, telling TopMob News that reports about him and Kick are false.

So nothing about being a Kennedy had really changed in a decade. Or a century.

I often get asked what it’s like growing up as a Kennedy,” she shared with Town & Country. “Honestly, I don’t really know how to answer. Seeing my name or face in the tabloids makes me really uncomfortable. It feels strange, like I’m reading about someone else entirely, not the real me.”

Despite never meeting her, she felt a connection to the great-aunt she was named after, who had passed away long before her father was even born.

“It’s funny how similar we are,” Kick mused. “She was fun and social and a performer in many ways.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. married Mary Richardson in 1994, and they had four children together. Their children are Conor Richardson Kennedy (born July 25, 1994), Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy (born August 22, 1995), William Finbar “Finn” Kennedy (born November 8, 1997), and Aidan Caohman Vieques Kennedy (born July 13, 2001).

The couple were legally separated when Mary died by suicide in 2012.

Father and sons: Conor, Aidan and RFK III.

Despite achieving sudden fame at 18 as a Harvard student – and famously introducing Taylor Swift to his family – Conor has generally kept to himself.

Their relationship didn’t last long – just a few months. Conor eventually went on to study law at Georgetown and graduated. However, the story did generate a lot of media attention.

“Taylor Swift’s ex Conor Kennedy” is now engaged to singer Giulia Be.

Kyra, a regular among the high-fashion set, lives in Milan.

In a video released on August 27, 2024, in collaboration with Elle and Bvlgari, she revealed she’s developing a project to honor her mother’s memory.

She reflects on whether she’s fundamentally changed as a person, saying, “Yes, absolutely.” She explains that she was one way as a child, but grew into someone completely different as a young adult.

RFK Jr. married Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines in 2014.

The actress shares daughter Catherine Young (born March 8, 2004) with ex-husband Paul Young. 

In a 2018 Instagram post for Father’s Day, Kick thanked her dad for giving her so many ‘wacky’ siblings.

Ethel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s seventh child has three daughters with her former husband, Andrew Cuomo: twins Mariah and Cara Kennedy-Cuomo (born in 1995), and Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo (born in 1997).

Kerry and Andrew married in 1990, but their relationship ended after a separation in 2003 and a divorce finalized in 2005. Andrew served as the governor of New York from 2011 to 2021.

Born on February 20, 1928, as the eighth of nine children to Joe and Rose, Jean Kennedy founded the VSA Kennedy Arts Center and later served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland under President Clinton.

She married Stephen Edward Smith, who worked as a strategist for John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, on May 19, 1956. Together, they had four children: sons Stephen Smith Jr. and William Smith, and daughters Amanda Smith and Kym Smith.

Jean died June 17, 2020, having outlived all of her siblings.

Senator Ted Kennedy, known for his personal controversies, had three children with his first wife, Joan Bennett. They are Kara Kennedy, born February 27, 1960; Edward Kennedy Jr., born September 26, 1961; and Patrick Kennedy II, born July 14, 1967.

He and Joan divorced in 1982 after 24 years of marriage and he wed Victoria Reggie in 1992.

Kara passed away from a heart attack on September 16, 2011, two years after losing her father. Joan died on October 8, 2025.

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2025-11-24 18:22