Grief doesn’t always come with long captions or public speeches.
Sometimes, it shows up in the smallest, most thoughtful gestures.
That was the case when Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former US President John F. Kennedy, turned to Instagram to honour his sister, Tatiana Schlossberg, following her death.
Instead of words of his own, he let carefully chosen texts, poems, and memories do the talking.
A Thoughtfully Curated Tribute
On Monday, Jack shared a slideshow made up of ten excerpts drawn from poems, historic speeches, and literary works.
Alongside the words, he included a childhood photo of himself and Tatiana, capturing a tender moment from their younger years.
The post’s caption was simple and symbolic: a single cherry blossom emoji.
Each slide followed the same visual style, using matching fonts and backgrounds.
The uniform look made it clear that this wasn’t rushed or accidental.
It was a deeply intentional tribute, thoughtfully put together to reflect love, memory, and loss.
Tatiana’s Own Words Take Center Stage
The first slide stood out for its personal significance.
Jack opened the tribute with Tatiana’s own writing, taken from her 2019 book Inconspicuous Consumption.
The book explored the hidden environmental costs of everyday consumer habits and reflected Tatiana’s lifelong commitment to environmental journalism and advocacy.
In the excerpt, Tatiana wrote passionately about responsibility — to the planet, to one another, and to future generations who will inherit a changing world.
She acknowledged that the work ahead would be difficult and uncertain, but insisted it was necessary, even ending on a characteristically wry note: “Come on, it will be fun (?)”.
A Life Cut Short by Illness
Tatiana Schlossberg passed away on December 30 at the age of 35 after battling blood cancer.
Her diagnosis came only six weeks earlier, though doctors had first identified acute myeloid leukemia in May 2024.
Writing later in The New Yorker, Tatiana revealed how shocking the diagnosis was.
She had no symptoms and described herself as one of the healthiest people she knew.
The illness was discovered through routine blood tests following the birth of her second child.
A Family Marked by Loss
Tatiana was the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and designer Edwin Schlossberg, and the granddaughter of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Her death adds to a long list of personal tragedies for her mother, Caroline, who lost her father to assassination at age five, her brother John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash, and her mother Jackie to lymphoma in 1994.
In her essay, Tatiana reflected on the emotional weight of her illness, especially its impact on her family.
She wrote about the unwavering support she received from her parents and siblings — Rose and Jack — during months of intense medical treatment, describing that love as a gift, even as she felt their pain.
Confronting the Idea of a “Kennedy Curse”
Tatiana also addressed the idea often referred to as the “Kennedy curse,” expressing deep sorrow that her illness added yet another tragedy to her mother’s life.
She wrote candidly about spending her life trying to be a good daughter and protect her mother from pain, only to feel helpless in the face of circumstances she couldn’t control.
Her words carried a mix of guilt, love, and heartbreaking honesty — a reflection of someone trying to make sense of suffering while still thinking of others.
Literature, History, and Faith in Jack’s Selections
Beyond Tatiana’s own writing, Jack filled the slideshow with passages that spoke to endurance, humanity, and legacy.
He included an excerpt from Moby-Dick reflecting on the immortality of whales, selections from Abraham Lincoln’s writings including the Gettysburg Address, and poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, and Rita S. Beer.
Other slides featured the Buddha’s final words and a quote from John F. Kennedy himself, reminding readers that while much in life is beyond understanding, laughter remains within human reach.
An Outpouring of Support Online
The response to the post was immediate and emotional.
Within three hours, it had received nearly 40,000 likes and more than 1,000 comments.
Followers flooded the comment section with heart and broken-heart emojis, alongside messages of sympathy, condolences, and shared grief.
In the end, Jack Schlossberg’s tribute didn’t just honour his sister’s memory.
It also reminded many of the power of words, love, and quiet reflection during moments of profound loss.
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