That appearance brought a torrent of mail to her Sacramento office, more than she's gotten during her five years as first lady of California.
At a candlelight vigil at the Lincoln Memorial attended by caregivers and loved ones of people suffering from Alzheimer's, held a few days after her committee testimony, Shriver looked around and felt a profound sense of belonging.
"This has enabled me to realize that there are millions of people out there like me that I did not know," she said. "My whole life I've somewhat struggled to find where I belong. I always felt comfortable in journalism. But when I went to the candlelight vigil for all the people dealing with Alzheimer's, I felt like these people are like me. It's been really good for me on a lot of levels."
Sargent Shriver still lives at home in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Eunice. And though Maria still introduces herself to him at each meeting, there are quiet moments that she feels lucky to have.
Once while she sat outside with her father, he mistook the sound of traffic for that of flowing water. Maria stopped trying to convince him otherwise and went with his understanding of it. And suddenly, she was enjoying the sound too.
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