Maria Shriver, children seek to rebuild lives, heal
(CBS) Hours after former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acknowledged he had fathered a child with a member of his household staff, his wife, Maria Shriver, pleaded with the media to give her and her children time" to rebuild our lives and heal."
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Pictures: Maria Shriver
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Shriver, who moved out of the couple's Brentwood home after learning of the infidelity, released the following statement: "This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment.''
Schwarzenegger and Shriver jointly announced May 9 that they were splitting up after 25 years of marriage. Yet, Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier in the year after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the child is his, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago,'' Schwarzenegger told the Times in a statement that was later sent to The Associated Press. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry."
"I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time," the statement concluded. "While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not."
The staffer has not been named, but Schwarzenegger issued his statement only after she had been interviewed by the newspaper. According to reports, she listed her husband at the time as the father of the child and continued to work for the family until January.
Shriver, daughter of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver and a niece of President John F. Kennedy, met the former Mr. Universe in 1977 at the Robert F. Kennedy Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament in Forest Hills, N.Y.
They married on April 26, 1986, in a white clapboard church in Hyannis, Mass., with many members of the Kennedy clan and celebrities present and a crowd of fans cheering outside. At the time she was an anchor on the "CBS Morning News" and the Austrian-born star was filming another movie.
They have four children, Katherine, 21, Christina, 19, Patrick, 17, and Christopher, 13.
On Tuesday, Patrick professed his love for his family on Twitter, but also acknowledged the difficulty of going through a painful time in the public eye. He wrote: "Some days you feel like s---, some days you want to quit and just be normal for a bit, yet i love my family till death do us apart."
