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Aug. 27, 2009 When John F. Kennedy ran for President I was eighteen years old and unable to vote. I, along with many others was enamored with the handsome Senator from Massachusetts with the unruly lock of reddish hair and the lovely Boston accent. He represented hope and youth and his physical attractiveness didn't hurt either. I worshipped him and watched as he was elected and sworn in as President. Not all of Kennedy's presidency was positive ( I watched as the Cuban Missile crisis unfolded with fear and trepidation) but his speeches were invigorating and seemed to make up for the slight doubts that were growing in my young mind toward the Kennedy clan. Like millions of other people I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on the day that Kennedy was killed. I watched the capture of Oswald and I watched as jack Ruby shot him on live television. I never left my television set during the days leading up to Kennedy's funeral and I cried for days on end as he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. My heart broke as I watched his young son salute his casket and I thought that I would never be the same after my hero was gone. Robert Kennedy was my next hero and I managed to secure employment on his campaign team in the Los Angeles area. I remember as if it were yesterday working to try and get him elected and I attended rallies and spent countless hours making phone calls on his behalf. I was supposed to attend the acceptance speech that Bobby Kennedy gave at The Ambassador Hotel on the night of his victory in Los Angeles and was devastated when I got the stomach flu a few hours before the event. I wound up on my couch watching as yet another hero was gunned down and later died. I watched the slow moving funeral train taking him to his final resting place, also at Arlington National Cemetery and later visited my friend who was also shot as he stood near the Senator in that kitchen at the Ambassador. My friend recovered as it was only a shoulder wound but I never did. Ten years ago I cried when John Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash because he seemed like such a lovely man and held so much promise. Yet another Kennedy life cut short way before his time. Teddy Kennedy was a horse of another color and my memories of him were not so positive or heroic. I remember Chappaquidick and Mary Jo and how he left her to die in that car under that pond. I remember his reputation for boozing and womanizing (some of which I witnessed first hand while working for his brother), and I was not impressed. As the years went by and I grew up my political leanings changed from ultra liberal to middle of the road and even conservative at times. I was aware of the work that Senator Edward Kennedy was doing in The United States Senate and I knew that he was one of the hardest working Senators to hold that office. I often disagreed with what Senator Kennedy represented and still do, but I had to admire his drive, determination and belief in what he represented. He truly earned the title of "Lion of the Senate". Last night Senator Edward M. Kennedy died and today he is being remembered by friends and foe alike. Today I am remembering the Kennedy legacy and the ups and downs that "America's Royal Family" stood for. Like the mythical Camelot of King Arthur that I read about as a child, much of the Kennedy's Camelot was also a myth. History has not always been kind to the legacy of a family that represented the very best and the very worst of American society at various times over the years. Who will be the next great Kennedy? I doubt that there are any front runners for that position nor that any of the surviving Kennedy children have the magic to carry on the tradition that the fallen brothers brought to our lives or too our history as a nation. I will remember the Kennedy brothers...John, Robert and Ted with a mixture of fondness and realism. I will never again view them as the magical, mythological characters that they appeared to be and who their father attempted to portray them as. They were born and bred to be leaders and larger than life figures and in many ways they were. They were also flawed human beings who did not "Right all of the wrongs...". It was reported this morning that as he was dying, Ted Kennedy stated that he was "ready to go to heaven" and than quietly passed. I hope that the good work that he did as a Senator and as the ever-present, strong leader of a sometimes troubled family, earned him a place in the heaven that he so very much wanted to journey too. He may have been flawed, but he worked tirelessly for what he believed in and helped many. I will remember him for the good that he did and I will be hoping that his final wish was granted.
Edward Moore Kennedy...R.I.P.
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