"Mommy! Where are my heels?!"
"Number four lands on our Rosalind Ray, who just turned 17"
"One is on the stairs, the other is in my bathroom! I couldn't tell you why they're there but either way hurry it up!"
"Rosie is extraordinary"
"Do I look okay papa?"
"Has her own type of vibe, walks to the beat of her own drum. She's called our "different" child, as she stands out compared to the other 11 girls"
"Amazing as usual, the outfit is very you. Is your mother ready?"
"An artist, and an absolutely amazing one for that matter. This piece above our heads is her's"
"I am now, coming down! Lucy is in charge!"
"She has an amazing imagination, never lost her childlike mind."
"Kisses!"
"And determined, oh she's going to get it done. She works 24/7, known to be self reserved around others, but comes out of her shell pretty quickly"
"Lucy, Nelly, Abi, Evie, Julie, Charlie, Hattie, GG, and... and. Where's Katie?"
"We always called her turtle growing up, because truthfully, that was her spirit animal a 100 percent. It still is."
"Right here! I'm here mommy!"
"And I mean she's absolutely brilliant! Graduating a whole year early at 17 years old."
"And Katie. Alrighty all 9! We're headed out, each of you behave yourself, have fun, and wish your sister luck!"
"Her first gallery painting, of many, was just released! Oh what a happy night that was."
The rain clouds filled the sky on the Friday night as the three person group of Kennedy's headed toward the gallery in Boston.
"Are you excited Rosie?" Jack asked while speeding down the highway, he tended to do that, gave Jackie anxiety.
She really didn't know how to answer in the moment.
"I think so. Half of me is so excited, I've worked so hard. The other half of me feels like I'm just not there yet. Maybe I need more time. Is that the best I could do?" Jackie looked back at the 17 year old with sympathy in her eyes.
They had only been over this subject a 100 times since they first got the offer phone call.
"Rosalind. YOU are the very best. The painting is gorgeous and it should be seen, it should be bragged about, it should be in that gallery tonight. You deserve this." The mother grabbed the cheeks of her fourth child and put her forehead on hers.
"You're gonna do great turtle, I just know it." Her father spoke up looking into the mirror back at Rosie.
Her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest as the car came to a stop and Jack got out to get the door.
She lead the way as the parents trailed a little behind, admiring everything about the night.
Their growing, beautiful, & talented daughter.
Her beautiful artwork.
And of course, the kind of, sort of, date the couple were on.
Hey, take the moments where you can get them.
People filled the gallery, packed in like sardines. But before she knew it, the crowds shuffled away and she was standing in front of her piece.
Her piece. One of her pieces was- it was in an art gallery.
Tears came to her eyes as it seemed dreams could come true. For awhile she just sat and stared at the canvas.
And critiqued things that she saw where wrong in her head, but that's not the point.
The only thing to snap her out of it being the microphone checks. As the youngest artist in the building, she was being recognized for plenty of different things that night.
The speech though, Rosie oh so looked forward to the speech.
After lessons with Nelly for the past week she had a little more confidence, but not as much as she probably would've liked before doing something this big.
Before she could even began to question though her name boomed. It seemed like she had no idea what to do, but her body had an idea as her feet carried the teen up onto the stage.
Applause came from everywhere as the girl stood in her brightly colored dress & bright heels with her frizzy, yet kind of tamed black, kinky, curly hair.
"I've been taking lessons with my little sister for the past week to prepare for this, so let's hope I don't disappoint!" Rosie started off, making the crowd laugh, lighting the mood.
"Anyways, as most of you guys know, I'm Rosie Kennedy. Yes, I'm 17 years old. Yes, my papa was a President. Yes, my art is on the wall over there. And yes, I have 11 sisters. Somebody asked the other day, I wanna say maybe a family member, what was so great about this piece? Like what was going through my head when I chose to present something so small in such a big situation. And at the time, I didn't have an answer. Just a simple, "I just knew". But I think I have one now. "It's the little things". We all look around, see amazing art and artists in this building. But I stand here at 17 years old, in my bright heels, and my curly hair. Yeah, I'm a little different comparing us all. But growing up being known and called the "different" child out of my 11 sisters, I'm used to it. I like to do things differently, from the way I present myself, to my art, it's all as my mommy would say, "uniquely me". Neither of them ever gave into the accusations on me, they loved me the way I was, and supported me always. In a family of 14, there's no room or use in being normal, you have to have something that separates you or you get lost in the crowd. I just remember being one of the oldest girls, helping my mommy and papa balance all of us. Yet watching her take time to put the baby down and put my art on the fridge. To take a minute to talk about the color, or the strategy, to tell me how proud she was of me. This is so much bigger than the fridge, but I had to start somewhere. There's always a place to start, and yeah, I excelled at a young age, but some need that little uph. My family started the dream for me, they loved & believed in the "unique me" and here I am. There's so much more to come in my future, but tonight, I stand in front of you on this stage to present, "It's The Little Things", by Rosalind Kennedy.
The canvas itself probably stopped at about 2 inches wide and maybe about 6 inches long.
Decorated with strokes of 14 colors.
Each representing a family member.
All shades, all brush sizes.
Each line different than the other.
All uniquely blend together, to create something so small, it really turned out big.
1161 words
YOU ARE READING
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Historical Fictionit's been almost 11 years since the world has last seen the kennedy's, back in 1968 the first lady & 35th president of the us were parents to 7 girls and let's simply say it's just gotten more and more interesting from there!! sit down with john...
