Ted Kennedy was the embodiment of everything that was once good about Massachusetts. He was honorable in his public life, committed to serving his community, and devoted to his family. He valued his own privacy and the privacy of others, all others. He did not judge people, only their actions as related to their jobs. Even then he held his tongue, or dealt with matters privately, until something egregious came to fore and he felt the necessity of calling out the wrong publicly.
On the senate floor Kennedy fought tirelessly for what he thought was right, without stooping to personal attacks, lies, or trickery. He was resolute and unapologetic. He meant what he said and he said what he meant, to quote another Massachusetts icon. At the end of the day, though, when the work was done, some of his best friends were his biggest adversaries. Orrin Hatch, someone with whom he seldom agreed politically, was his closest friend on the senate floor. Kennedy could separate politics from his personal life. Personally opposed to abortion, he still fought to retain a woman's right to make her own decision based on her own faith and her own intellect. He was not so self-agrandized as to believe that he knew all the answers.
He was patient, willing to fight for years to make baby steps toward his goals if he could not get there with a giant leap. And his goals were things he thought were right and just for all Americans, not any single segment, not for himself. One of his rarest qualities among his contemporaries was his astute understanding of the necessity of compromise in negotiation. This enabled him to work effectively with both democrats, republicans, and foreign dignitaries, and to be beloved and respected by his colleagues and his constituents.
A New Englander first and foremost, he was a humble man, never insisting on the limelight regardless of how comfortable he was under it. In spite of his seniority, Kennedy did not even put his own name first on the bills he was party to, preferring to give that honor to the ones who felt such things were important. He was not in the senate to promote himself. He was there to serve. And serve he did, fighting for those our forefathers sought to protect -- the poor, the tired, the huddled masses.
He opposed war, but honored those who served, attending every service for every Massachusetts soldier, whether it was held locally or at Arlington Cemetery in Washington.
In his private life he was as reserved as the press would allow him to be. Deeply faithful personally, he kept that part of his life to himself, as is customary here in New England. Kennedy's faith was his faith, and as strongly as he believed in it and relied upon it in his own life, he allowed others to abide by their own higher powers in the ways they saw fit.
By all accounts he was warm, personable, and funny, possessing the typical Boston self-deprecating wit. He took his job seriously, but did not take himself too seriously. Not only could he always take a joke, but he could take down a colleague every St. Patrick's Day at the traditional roast.
Above all else he was strong, a modern-day Goliath, and at the same time a prototypical New England pragmatist. He dealt with life's ups and downs with dignity and honor. He was not a whiner or a quitter, but neither could he be bothered making lemonade with the lemons life threw at him. He was not afraid to confront his demons, be they internal or external. A gentile New Englander accepts things graciously, dispenses with them as he will, then moves along with things.
And, like the rest of us, Ted Kennedy was deeply flawed. Unlike the rest of us, he compensated for his failings. He made restitution (un-owed) for failings in his private life with tireless service in his public life. He did what the rest of us aspire to – he gave more to this nation in his life than he took from it.
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I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life. I would not want to live any place else. But for the past 20 years I've been watching a gradual erosion of our core values, the things that have made us who we are, or who we were, service, humility, and decency. We used to have respect for those around us regardless of their circumstances, as well as respect for those who preceded us, and for the things they left behind. We welcomed new comers for the contributions they would make, and valued those parts of our parochialism that allowed ethnic groups to keep a little bit of their heritage while sharing it with the rest of us.
We did not call attention to ourselves, especially not to our finances or property, and we had little patience with those who did. Nobody was judged for the clothes they wore or the car they drove. That is less and less true now, as I notice every time I try to park my little car between the hulking SUV's and Hummers. In my childhood the fancy cars that some were lucky enough to have were reserved for church and holidays. Likewise were the fancy clothes and high heeled shoes. It was ill-mannered to brag -- to wave your good fortune under other people's noses. While we still do not judge each other by our clothing, homes, or possessions – the showing off and bragging has become commonplace. Still, we have nothing on California,… but it worries me that this erosion has been accelerating exponentially in the past ten years.
All the things that made New England such a magnificent place to live, the overwhelming respect for the spirit of those long gone - the bridges and the monuments, the hallowed grounds. The reverence for the trees, the frogs, and the birds. The undying love of the forests, the meadows, and the beauty of it all and then the quiet friendliness and tacit acceptance. The honesty, the integrity, and the freedom all those qualities have given us are too valuable to imagine life without. I'm afraid that the loss of Senator Kennedy will let loose the levys, and it will all wash away.
Rest in peace, Mr. Kennedy. May your God bless you. I can only hope that there's a power high enough to bless Massachusetts and this nation you served so well and save it from what it will do to itself without you.
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