Teddy Kennedy has always been a hero of mine.
I'm vastly impressed that a man,
who didn't need to work a day in his life for his own living,
would work all the days of his life to improve other's way of living.
I find that noble.
I'm vastly impressed that a man,
who didn't need to work a day in his life for his own living,
would work all the days of his life to improve other's way of living.
I find that noble.
“We are giving assurance to American families that help is on its way.”
—Edward Kennedy
Three older, adored, brothers dead at young ages,
directly because they were serving their country,
two of them assassinated because they stood up for Americans
who hadn't been blessed in the ways their family had been blessed,
did not scare him away from public service.
"I know this decision means I may never be president.
But the pursuit of the presidency is not my life. Public service is."
—Edward Kennedy
Why would a man who had it all, who could spend his days traveling,
sailing, skiing, living a life of leisure and adventure,
give it up for the stress, name calling, death threats and
unappreciated hours of work he chose instead?
He said it himself in a tribute to his older brother,
Senator Robert F. Kennedy:
Senator Robert F. Kennedy:
My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he
was in life, but to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw
wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw
war and tried to stop it.
Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that
what he was to us, and what he wished for others, will some day come to
pass for all the world.
As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched
and who sought to touch him:
"Some men see things as they are and say why.
I dream things that never were and say why not."—Edward Kennedy
"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives
and the dreams shall never die.”
and the dreams shall never die.”
—Senator Edward Kennedy
1932-2009
1932-2009
6 comments:
I hadn't heard the news yet. So very sad. I wish he had been able to last long enough for a health care bill to pass.
I always liked him. Except for the drinking and philandering with women, of course. But I've never thought about it that way - he could have been a socialite and never done anything. Instead, he chose to fight for those less fortunate than himself. Noble indeed.
But what do you say about Chappaquiddick?
I hope he's having a fun reunion with all his brothers (and didn't his sister just die too?) right now.
I would say Amen and Amen to every word you wrote Marty.
Those that decry his mistakes should remember that he was in the final evaluation an imperfect man, just like the rest of us. How many of our lives could stand the kind of scrutiny his family has lived with since his childhood?
In the long run he should be remembered for the good that he did for others.
He will be sorely missed as we try to at last fixed what's wrong with health care in this country. I hope the Senate will do the right thing in that regard as a final lasting tribute to Teddy's life work.
Very nice tribute to Senator Kennedy. He wasn't always perfect but his good far outweighted his bad. I am very sad at his passing, Debbie
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