Ted Kennedy, first pitch, Fenway Park, April 7, 2009 - Mike Ivins photoSenator Ted Kennedy was buried today. At his grave-side in Arlington, the priest gave his condolences to the Senator's immediate family, and to the Senator's extended family, which he added, included the entire nation. Growing up in the 60s, as one of three brothers, the Kennedy's were constantly being held up as a model for us. And although my parents supported Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 primary, I recall Robert Kennedy's death as one of my strongest early memories, so powerful was the emotion and the loss. I don't think of my parents as emotional people, but they were shaken that day, and I felt it. In my senior year in high school, Ted Kennedy ran for the Presidency, and I canvassed for him. Going door to door, talking to folks in suburban New Hampshire was an experience I'll never forget; for me, it made concrete the idea of a democracy. Having spent most of my adult life in Massachusetts, he was my Senator for more than two decades - and I wrote him several times to say one nutty thing or another. Though I thought of him as a personal hero, I certainly felt like part of that extended family today. Thank you, Ted.
