周三，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在华盛顿特区为埃塞尔·肯尼迪举行了一场肃穆而庆祝的葬礼，呼应了数十名其他哀悼者的深思熟虑的言论，他们被她几十年的爱和工作所感动。
据她的家人说，肯尼迪在睡梦中中风两天后，于10月10日去世。她已经96岁了。
她在使徒圣玛窦大教堂的服务包括来自斯汀，肯尼·切斯尼和斯蒂维·旺德的表演，他们都对她多年的服务表示敬意。
拜登抑制住泪水，回忆起自他进入公职以来肯尼迪如何亲自感动了他，并表达了对这份爱的感激。
“因为埃塞尔·肯尼迪，我们成为了一个更好的国家和更好的世界，”他说。
拜登谈到，在他宣誓进入参议院前不久，他的第一任妻子内莉亚和女儿内奥米于1972年死于车祸后，肯尼迪一直在他身边。
“她和泰迪·肯尼迪一起帮我度过了一段时间，我不想待在这里，我不想成为国会和参议院的一员。我的意思是，我和我的州长谈过了，因为我们选了一个民主党州长来代替我，但是泰迪和埃塞尔·肯尼迪在那里。“不，一点也不，”总统说。
“事实是，就像她为国家所做的那样，她帮助我的家庭找到了一条有原则和目标的道路，”他说。
拜登还谈到了当他的儿子博·拜登在2015年去世时，埃塞尔·肯尼迪和她的家人是如何表达他们的支持。周三，他将这一姿态还给肯尼迪家族。
他说:“肯尼迪家族，拜登家族在这里支持你们，就像你们一直支持我们一样。”
她与罗伯特·F·肯尼迪共有的几个埃塞尔·肯尼迪的孩子，他们的孙子和其他亲戚在整个弥撒中赞颂她。每个人都谈到了他们对她的记忆，以及她为争取民权和其他社会问题所做的工作。
女儿凯丽·肯尼迪说:“她的使命是让父亲的遗产继续存在，但在完成这一使命的过程中，她现在给我们留下了真正属于她的遗产。”。
前总统巴拉克·欧巴马和比尔·柯林顿，以及前众议院议长南希·佩洛西，也赞颂了埃塞尔，各自回忆了个人轶事。
奥巴马记得埃塞尔·肯尼迪在他2004年民主党全国代表大会演讲后给了他巨大的祝福，并说他也对她几十年的服务感到惊讶。
“她的快乐，她对生活的热情，她对人们的爱帮助她对世界上的许多不公平现象充满了正义的愤怒，”奥巴马说。
希拉里开玩笑说，埃塞尔·肯尼迪会“用最天真的方式和我调情”
“我认为你的母亲是猫的喵，”他说，这引起了笑声。
希拉里补充说，埃塞尔·肯尼迪将永远欢迎每一个人，让他们感觉像家人一样。
“她真想成为你的母亲、祖母、婆婆。她是一个充满持续能量的神奇火球。能在她身边真是太好了，”他说。
1928年，她出生于芝加哥的埃塞尔·斯卡克尔，在新英格兰长大，当她进入曼哈顿维尔学院并遇到让·肯尼迪时，她进入了肯尼迪家族的生活，让·肯尼迪把她介绍给了她的哥哥鲍比。
这对夫妇于1950年结婚，一年后，他们11个孩子中的第一个女儿凯瑟琳出生了。
这家人搬到了华盛顿特区，鲍比·肯尼迪在那里担任司法部律师。1960年，在约翰·肯尼迪当选总统和鲍比·肯尼迪被任命为司法部长后，这个家庭受到了越来越多的关注。
JFK遇刺后，博比·肯尼迪仍然活跃在政治舞台上，并参加了1968年的总统竞选。
罗伯特·肯尼迪在印第安纳州初选的胜利演讲中谈到他的妻子时说，她“在这场竞选中做出了如此重大的改变，对我来说也是如此。”
然而，两个月后，1968年6月5日，罗伯特·肯尼迪在赢得加州初选后，在洛杉矶大使酒店发表胜利演说时，一颗刺客的子弹结束了他的生命。埃塞尔·肯尼迪目睹了丈夫的谋杀，40岁时成了寡妇，有10个孩子，并怀上了这对夫妇的第11个孩子。她再也不会结婚了。
丈夫去世后，埃塞尔·肯尼迪投身于包括枪支管制在内的社会事业，并创办了罗伯特·F·肯尼迪纪念中心，继续丈夫争取正义和人权的工作。
2014年，奥巴马授予埃塞尔·肯尼迪总统自由勋章，这是美国公民的最高荣誉。
“即使面对难以想象的损失和难以想象的悲痛，她也是持久信念和持久希望的象征，”奥巴马在颁奖仪式上说。
Biden, dignitaries, family members pay last respects to Ethel Kennedy
President Joe Biden capped a somber yet celebratory funeral for Ethel Kennedy on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., echoing the thoughtful remarks from dozens of other mourners who were touched by her decades of love and work.
Kennedy died on Oct. 10, two days after she suffered a stroke in her sleep, according to her family. She was 96 years old.
Her service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle included performances from Sting, Kenny Chesney and Stevie Wonder, who all paid tribute to her years of service.
Biden held back tears as he reflected on how Kennedy personally touched him since he entered public office and expressed gratitude for that love.
"We're a better nation and a better world because of Ethel Kennedy," he said.
Biden talked about how Kennedy was there for him after his first wife Neilia and daughter Naomi were killed in a car crash in 1972, shortly before he was sworn into the Senate.
"Along with Teddy [Kennedy], she got me through a time I didn't want to stick around, I want no part of being in the Congress and the Senate. I mean, I spoke to my governor, because we elected a Democratic governor, to find a replacement for me, but Teddy and Ethel Kennedy were there. 'No, none of it,'" the president said.
"The fact is, like she did for the country, she helped my family find a way [with] principle and purpose," he said.
Biden also talked about how Ethel Kennedy and her family showed their support when his son Beau Biden passed away in 2015. He returned the gesture to the Kennedys on Wednesday.
"To the Kennedy family, the Biden family is here for you, as you've always been for us," he said.
Several of Ethel Kennedy's children she shared with Robert F. Kennedy, their grandchildren and other relatives eulogized her throughout the Mass. Each talked about their memories of her, as well as her work fighting for civil rights and other social issues.
"Her mission was to keep daddy's legacy alive, but in fulfilling that mission, she now leaves us a legacy that is truly hers," daughter Kerry Kennedy said.
Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also eulogized Ethel, each recalling personal anecdotes.
Obama remembered how Ethel Kennedy gave him a huge blessing following his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech and remarked how he, too, was marveled by her decades of service.
"Her joy, her zest for life, her love for people helped feed in her a righteous anger toward the many injustices in our world," Obama said.
Clinton joked that Ethel Kennedy would "flirt with me in the most innocent ways."
"I thought your mother was the cat's meow," he said, which was met with laughter.
Clinton added that Ethel Kennedy would always want to welcome everyone and make them feel like they were family.
"She really wanted to be your mother, grandmother, mother-in-law. She was an amazing fireball of continuous energy. It was wonderful to be around her," he said.
Born Ethel Skakel in Chicago in 1928 and raised in New England, she would come into the Kennedy family's life when she attended Manhattanville College and met Jean Kennedy, who introduced her to her brother Bobby.
The couple would marry in 1950 and their daughter, Kathleen -- the first of their 11 children -- was born a year later.
The family moved to D.C. where Bobby Kennedy was working as a Justice Department attorney. In 1960, the spotlight on the family grew after John F. Kennedy was elected president and Bobby Kennedy was named attorney general.
After JFK's assassination, Bobby Kennedy stayed politically active and campaigned for the presidency in 1968.
Robert Kennedy said of his wife during his victory speech in the Indiana primary that she "has made such a major difference in this campaign and a major difference for me."
However, two months later, on June 5, 1968, an assassin's bullet ended Robert Kennedy's life as he delivered a victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California primary. Ethel Kennedy, who witnessed her husband's murder, was left a widow at the age of 40 with 10 children and was pregnant with the couple's 11th. She would never again marry.
Following her husband's death, Ethel Kennedy became involved in social causes, including gun control, and started the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center to carry on her husband's work for justice and human rights.
In 2014, Obama presented Ethel Kennedy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
"She's an emblem of enduring faith and enduring hope even in the face of unimaginable loss and unimaginable grief," Obama said during the medal ceremony.
