Maria Shriver mourned the death of her cousin Tatiana Schlossberg in an emotional tribute on Tuesday.
Shriver, 70, honored Schlossberg in a lengthy social media post after the Kennedy family announced that the 35-year-old mother of two had died following a battle with cancer. Shriver is John F. Kennedy’s niece and Schlossberg was his granddaughter.
“I return to this space heartbroken because Tatiana loved life,” Shriver wrote. “She loved her life, and she fought like hell to try to save it. I cannot make sense of this. I cannot make any sense of it at all. None. Zero.”
Schlossberg was an environmental journalist and author. In November, she revealed in a stunning essay for The New Yorker that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and was only given a year to live.
The Kennedy scion is survived by her husband, George Moran, as well as their 3-year-old son Edwin and 1-year-old daughter Josie.
“Tatiana was a great journalist, and she used her words to educate others about the earth and how to save it. She created a beautiful life with her extraordinary husband George, and children Eddie and Josie,” Shriver said.
“She fought like a warrior. She was valiant, strong, courageous. My heart has always been with my cousin Caroline ever since we were little kids. My entire being is with her now. What a rock she has been,” Shriver continued.
Schlossberg detailed her battle against cancer in her essay, adding that she had tried her whole life to protect her mother, Caroline, who had already lost her father, JFK, in the 1963 assassination and her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., in a 1999 plane crash.
“Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” Schlossberg wrote.
Shriver remembered her cousin as “‘wicked smart,’ as they say, and sassy. She was fun, funny, loving, caring, a perfect daughter, sister, mother, cousin, niece, friend, all of it.”
“Those of us left behind will make sure Eddie and Josie know what a beautiful, courageous spirit their mother was and will always be. She takes after her extraordinary mother, Caroline,” she said.
The JFK Library Foundation announced Schlossberg’s death on Tuesday afternoon.
“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning,” it said. “She will always be in our hearts.”
