Maria Shriver hits Greece for Special Olympics

Maria Shriver has managed to stay mostly out of the spotlight since news broke last month of husband Arnold Schwarzenegger's decade-long affair with a household staffer.

However, she's trekked to Athens, Greece this weekend for a cause that is near and dear to her family: The Special Olympics.

The group's World Games kicked off last night and ahead of the ceremony, Shriver wrote on her blog about feeling just as special as the Olympians who compete.

My friend, Special Olympian and fellow Special Olympics Board Member, Eddie Barbanell, wrote me a beautiful note before I traveled to Athens that made me feel so good. He said that he knew I was going through a rough time but he wanted me to know that I "will never be left out".

That is such a powerful phrase -- You will never be left out.

We all have that basic fear, don't we? That if something bad happens to us, or change comes to our lives, that we will be left out. Left out of what? I think that's unique to each person.

Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Sargent Shriver created the Special Olympics in 1962 to give children and adults with intellectual disabilities a chance to compete.

During last night's opening ceremonies, Vanessa Williams and Stevie Wonder performed before a crowd of 7,500 participants from more than 185 countries and their friends and families. The Special Olympics will conclude on July 4.

See photos of: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stevie Wonder, Maria Shriver, Special Olympics, Vanessa Williams, Eunice Kennedy Shriver

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