I grew up with the Kennedys. I was born in the late 60's - during the turmoil of Bobby Kennedy's assassination, war protests and the wonders of space rockets and men on the moon. I think that everyone in NYC is a bit of a political wonk, but I surpassed my parents and everyone in the neighborhood.
I remember taking my father's JFK memorial record of his speeches and listening to them over and over. I remember at the age of 9 having my parents drive me to Manhattan to stuff envelopes for Jimmy Carter's campaign - the littlest volunteer (but I was taken seriously and allowed to help every Sunday). I remember getting my first cassette tape recorder - a red panasonic - and making a parody of Richard Nixon getting implummed and impolkadotted instead of impeached. But most of all, I remember the Kennedys.
I remember looking at this family with perfect teeth, wealthy but working so hard for kids, poor people and minorities. I remember discovering that little Jon Jon had grown up real good and my best friend giving me a calendar of JFK with a card - here are pictures of the father in law that you never got to meet. I remember in my early 20's buying ballgowns from Saks Fifth Avenue that I couldn't afford, tucking in the tags and crashing Kennedy Foundation parties at the Met, hoping for a sighting of a Kennedy and being rewarded by meeting Rory, Patrick, Caroline and seeing Ted at some of them - the Patriarch! I remember being a salesperson in NYC and working so hard to get the Hachette Filipachi account so I could have an excuse to be in the building that George Magazine was in, hoping to get a glimpse.
I remember all the Kennedy deaths and tragedies and taking them to heart like they were my family - Jackie, then the heartbreaking news of John Kennedy. I remember being riveted to my TV that sunny July afternoon hoping for good news, knowing it wouldn't come. I remember seeing Ted on the boat to pick up the bodies of his nephew - everyone's father - a role he was thrust into out of necessity, but one that he took to.
And I remember his speech at the Democratic National Convention where he passed the torch to Barack Obama. Practically calling him a Kennedy - the pride of Barack shining in his eyes - you would think there would have been some sadness, some irony - after all, Ted's own push to the White House failed and the new generation of Kennedys don't seem like the highest call is in the cards. But there was no irony. There was only pride. I do believe Ted Kennedy loved his country more than anything including his pride and the Family.
I know there will be people who will mock Ted Kennedy - there are people who have brought up Chappaquiddick (and you don't want to go there because in 1963 Laura Bush was in a vehicular homicide, too). There are people who will bring up his drinking and his womanizing. I agree - and his nephew, John Kennedy Jr. wrote that some of his family were posterboys for bad behavior. We all know that. Ted would have been the first to agree. But he without sin cast the first stone.
Teddy was born into great wealth - he could have given in to those baser emotions and temptations but instead devoted his life to making his country better. With all his flaws he managed to write over 300 bills that were passed. And not bills like putting treehouses in public parks or having poodles groomed within 50 feet of an elementary school. I'm talking about serious bills that changed the landscape of this country for the better, including The Minimum Wage Increase Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Act, The No Child Left Behind Act, the Medicare Act, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, The Mental health Parity Act, The Immigration Reform Act, The Individuals with disabilities Education Act and so many more.
Ted Kennedy will forever be known as a great American. The Liberal Lion who befriended people in both parties and often crossed the aisle to work with Republicans to get the job done. Let the record show that this was a man who truly loved America. He will be missed.
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