A Grateful Nation Says Goodbye to America’s Senator

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) represented not only the state of Massachusetts, but he was the champion for millions of Americans who are without a voice and an advocate in Washington, D.C.: the poor, the disabled, the sick, the forgotten. He was America's Senator. The Lion of the Senate has departed us, and we are poorer as a nation with his passing. A new generation of Americans must take up his torch as Kennedy exhorted the Democratic National Convention last August in Denver.

I was mesmerized by the memorial and funeral services for Teddy Kennedy. It brought back a flood of painful memories and images from the funerals of his slain brothers, John and Robert. Teddy Kennedy and his family mercifully were spared a similar tragic fate, and were granted God's blessing of a long goodbye to say farewell and thank you to family and friends.

There were a number of poignant and touching tributes to Teddy Kennedy from his family, friends, and Senate colleagues at his wake on Friday. But it would not be an Irish wake without celebrating the life of the departed with a funny story and shared laughter to ease the pain of loss. Former senator John Culver (D-Iowa), a Harvard classmate and lifelong friend of Teddy Kennedy, shared this story of his first experience sailing with Teddy Kennedy: "There's nothing to it…"

I can still recall the thousands of people who lined the streets of New York City on the procession route to St. Patrick's Cathedral for the funeral of Bobby Kennedy. Similarly, thousands stood and waited for hours in a steady rain along the procession route from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (the "Mission Church") in Roxbury, and along the route to Hanscom AFB in Bedford.

The Boston Globe today published this moving piece Mourned by power brokers and powerless alike:

Inside the majestic basilica, the president eulogized Senator Edward M. Kennedy as “a champion for those who had none.’’ Outside, among multitudes lining streets bleak with August rain, a homeless man said heaven’s angels were crying.

* * *

“As long as he was in Washington, I always felt safe,’’ said Maria Rota, a Milton woman who stood alone in the steady rain, as if standing vigil, before the procession that would bring Kennedy’s body to the church. “I just wanted to say thank you. I wanted to bear witness to a great American, a courageous leader, and a person who made such a profound difference in the lives of so many people.’’

As she spoke about Kennedy’s legacy, and how his life had affected hers, her voice cracked with emotion, and her eyes welled with tears.

Many on the streets where the senator’s body rode from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum to the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mission Hill said they felt personally obligated to honor Kennedy’s years of public service, and hoped their presence would provide a measure of comfort to the grief-stricken Kennedy family.

Some who watched from the street near the church, looking up at its two towering spires in the unrelenting drear, they said no weather could have kept them away.

* * *

Hours before the funeral, groups of friends were coming together on streets along the procession route. On a Roxbury street corner, Annie Vitales, staked a spot near her apartment shortly after 9. Soon, four other women joined her.

“He fought so hard for us, all of us,’’ said Vitales, 62.

A ragged-looking man, Kevin Turvis, said he has been living on the streets but that he was there for his mother, a civil rights activist who once worked with Kennedy. Now in a nursing home, she couldn’t attend.

“The Kennedy family has been instrumental in civil rights over the years,’’ Turvis said, recalling his family weeping over John F. Kennedy’s assassination. “I’m here to pay my respects for my family. . . . The angels in heaven are crying.’’

The media villagers and Beltway bloviators speculated for days about who would be the next Kennedy to deliver a moving eulogy now that the last of the Kennedy brothers are gone. It turned out to be Edward Kennedy, Jr., who rarely speaks in public. Teddy junior delivered a loving tribute to his father and his best friend with the story of losing his leg to cancer at the age of 12, and going sledding with his father. "I know you can do it. There is nothing That you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together even if it takes us all day." There is a lesson in there for all of us in this story of a father's love.

As in Boston, thousands of people lined the procession route from Andrews AFB to the Capitol building to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. It was reminiscent of the thousands of people who lined the railroad tracks from New York to Washington D.C. to pay their last respects to Bobby Kennedy as his funeral train passed by.

In a tribute to a senator never before seen and unlikely ever to be witnessed again, current and former Senate staff members from Kennedy's 47 years in the Senate were joined by Senate staffers serving on Capitol Hill on the east steps of the Senate to pay a final tribute to the Lion of the Senate. No other legislator has commanded such respect on Capitol Hill. The staffers spontaneously sang "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful," and were joined by the throng of people who had gathered across the street to witness this tribute.

Eerily reminiscent of Bobby Kennedy's burial at Arlington National Cemetery, the burial service occurred late in the evening as darkness fell. Bobby had a candlelight vigil. One commentator noted that for a man who spent nearly his entire life in front of the glare of television cameras, his moment of final rest belonged to his family and friends gathered at his graveside, as there was not enough light for the television cameras. (There are still photographs, if you really must).

Ted Kennedy was buried just up the ellipse from his brother Bobby's grave and the eternal flame marking his brother John's grave, an omnipresent reminder of the sacrifice the Kennedy family has made in public service to this country.

Ted Kennedy managed to get in the last word after his death, in a letter he wrote to Pope Benedict XVI which was read by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at his graveside, along with the Papal response from the Vatican. Excerpts of Kennedy Letter to Pope and Response:

''I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life. I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provides solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path. I want you to know Your Holiness that in my nearly 50 years of elective office I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war.

''Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a United States senator. I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I will continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone. I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me.''

Ted Kennedy's final words, echoed by many speakers at his memorial and funeral service, is a clarion call to all Democrats to finally achieve universal health care. As the Kennedy's often said about civil rights, "this is not a political issue, it is a moral issue." It is a moral issue rooted in their Christian faith and Matthew 25:31-46, which was the reading at Kennedy's funeral mass. It is time for Democrats to put aside their differences and to honor Ted Kennedy by enacting universal health care in a bill which will be worthy of his name, and will do honor to the cause of his lifetime and to average Americans for whom he fought so long and hard as their champion.

Finally, I was most impressed by the strength, dignity and grace demonstrated by Victoria (Vickie) Kennedy, Teddy's wife. She was a blessing to Teddy in his later years, and to the Kennedy clan. I could not help but remember Jackie and the strength, dignity and grace she displayed on that long-ago November day.