An Ode To Teddy...

Edward Moore Kennedy past away this week. He was 77 and had been battling a brain tumor for 15 months, many more than he was expected to battle it. He served in the United States Congress for 47 years, representing the great state of Massachusetts. He was as much a fixture of Boston as the John Hancock Tower, The Public Gardens, and Faneuil Hall.

I never met Ted Kennedy - well okay, that's not true, I met him in 2002 when he spoke at the dedication to the Joe Moakley Cancer Center, a part of Boston Medical Center (my mom works there). I was in a big crowd of people, he had his handlers, he found my mom, and she grabbed him - as she is known to do, and then began introducing him to her family. He said hi to my dad, and sort of grabbed my hand and then my sister's hands - I think he was preoccupied with how cold it was and getting in doors, but as I recall, he said 'Adam, congratulations, very nice, good for you.'

He and my mother worked together for many years as part of the health care lobby. Her job was to run a hospital and get money for it - his job was to represent her interests in Washington and get money for it - so they spent a lot of time in meetings, both in Boston and D.C. As she recalled this week, he was the very first person to call her when my grandfather died in 2005, the very first - he beat out everyone else. You'll hear stories about how he was always the first to make the phone call.

In our house in Brookline, we have a picture of him and my mom, all smiles, with an inscription thanking her for her dedication to healthcare. In our Cape house, we have a painting of his boat, that he made for us, with a similar inscription to my mom, thanking her for her work. When people visit my house, they stop by the painting, and they admire it.

Teddy K, despite his personal mistakes and tragedies that he endured, he certainly dedicated himself to his family, his city, his state, and his country. For that, he is a national idol, and he will be missed.