Senator Ted Kennedy has died and tonight the skies over Oklahoma City weep. Maybe you had to have lived through John Kennedy's assassination, Martin Luther King's assassination, and Bobby Kennedy's assassination -- not to mention lived through the Civil Rights Era - to appreciate Ted Kennedy. Or maybe you have to appreciate civil rights legislation, disability legislation, domestic violence legislation, etc, etc to realize the amazing contribution Ted Kennedy made to this nation.
I also personally love this man because he was so generous to me when I was doing research on my doctoral dissertation on Capitol Hill. Senator Kennedy allowed me to go through - and photocopy - all his files leading up to passage of the law creating the Corporation for National Service. His law. Another of his contributions - youth service programs and service learning.
Some of you will call him a Nazi or a Communist or something worse - because that is what this nation has descended to these day. Except Ted Kennedy was famous for working in a bipartisan manner for the greater good of America. Thanks for all you have done to make the USA a more humane place to live, Senator Kennedy. Rest in Peace, youngest Kennedy brother.
Like his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who died early this month; Senator Kennedy was truly a champion for "the least of these". The public service tradition of the Kennedy Family is one that we should all strive to emulate. My youngest neice's given name is Kennedy and she reminds us frequently that her name means a commitment to service.
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