I admit, I will not be able to help myself tonight. I will cry when Ted Kennedy speaks. I will cry for myself, for Ted Kennedy, for the Kennedy Family, and for our Country. I will cry because of the service he provided to this country, for his health, and for his courage in face of personal and professional setbacks.
I'm 41 years old. John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Roosevelt belonged to my parents. For myself, I've looked up to figures such as Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
Tonight I will be crying for Ted Kennedy, but grateful that he was there to fight against Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush Jr. And I pray he is there to help President Obama.
It's hard to summerize all of Ted Kennedy's achievements. Woman's Rights, Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Human Rights, workers rights, the environment, eduction, world peace, gun control, fair immigration policies, fair wages, reasonable judges . .. You name the fight, Kennedy has been there on the front lines of history.
I think the effectiveness of Kennedy is seen by his entry in Wikipedia.
Since his presidential bid, Kennedy has become one of the most recognizable and influential members of the party, and is sometimes called a "Democratic icon".[24] In April 2006, Kennedy was selected by Time as one of "America's 10 Best Senators"; the magazine noted that he had "amassed a titanic record of legislation affecting the lives of virtually every man, woman and child in the country" and that "by the late 1990s, the liberal icon had become such a prodigious cross-aisle dealer that Republican leaders began pressuring party colleagues not to sponsor bills with him".[25]Wikipedia entry for Ted Kennedy
I was going to try to do a scholarly examination of Kennedy's life, but frankly that would be a multi volume set of books. It's hard to put into words how much Kennedy means to me and my life even though I have never met him in person.
I was the result of a Jr. high school prom date and born to very young parents in 1966. They were both very young and very idealistic and liberal. Even though they were young, they both managed to get college degrees and graduate degrees as I grew up. They were hard working and liberal. They idealized John F. Kennedy and always felt a kinship to Ted Kennedy.
I was raised to believe in equality and Kennedy was always referenced in my household. I grew up witnessing Kennedy fighting against the "Reagan Revolution". He didn't win every fight, but he stood tall. Even when the republicans demonized Kennedy for fundraisers, Kennedy still would work with any agreeable Senator regardless of party in order to achieve the public good.
I will never forget how Kennedy lead the fight against Robert Bork and helped derail his nomination to the Supreme Court.
On a personal note, I have admired Ted Kennedy's principled views on Gay marriage. As wikipedia notes:
Same sex marriage
Kennedy is considered to be one of the biggest advocates of LGBT rights in the U.S. Senate,[53][54][55]and he has received ratings of 100 percent by the Human Rights Campaign for the 107th, 108th and 109th sessions of U.S. Congress[56] indicating that he voted in support of HRC's slate of pro-gay legislative issues. He is a supporter of same-sex marriage[57] and was one of the fourteen senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.[58]Wikipedia entry for Ted Kennedy
I will cry tonight for Ted Kennedy, but I'm so glad that he will be attending the convention and can see how much he means to all of us. Even though i'm not there, my mother will be there to cheer for him.
I hope everyone will take a moment to put down what Kennedy means to them in the comments.