LAST MAN STANDING.....

While I was away, we lost one of the last great Democratic Senators who served our country. Senator Edward M. Kennedy was truly one of a kind... a politician who honestly cared about people, not just winning re-election. He was a true humanitarian, sponsoring or writing laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Civil Rights Act, Child Health Care and Immigration Reform to name a few, and made me proud to call myself a Democrat. Kennedy not only served his constituents in Massachusetts, but every citizen of the United States and did so for an unbelievable 46 years.

When I was a child, I visited my Grandparent's house in Summit Hill weekly. They had a sun porch on the side of the house my father grew up in, and all I can vividly remember from that room was the gliding metal sofa that I often used to take naps on, and the picture of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy that hung on the wall near the picture of Jesus that stared down at me. For my Italian/Catholic grandparents, JFK was a hero to them being the first Catholic president (they apparently were able to look past the Irish part.) As a child in their house, Jesus and JFK watched over me as I slept on that sofa, and I felt that NOTHING bad could ever happen to me as long as they both kept watch. Later on in life a poster of Bruce Springsteen over my bed would replace them. I remember watching the funeral of Bobby Kennedy on tv with my mom, but at the age of 4 I couldn't comprehend the tragedy of what I was watching. I grew up with a fascination of all things Kennedy, and as an adult would visit their graves in Arlington National Cemetery, Dealey Plaza in Dallas, the family home in Brookline and the Kennedy compound in Hyannis. Oddly enough, as many times as I've been to Martha's Vineyard, I never got around to visiting Chappaquiddick Island and the remains of the infamous bridge there.

During my news career, I had the pleasure of bumping into Senator Kennedy on the rooftop of a tv studio building in Washington. We would do our live shots there, with the Capitol Building in the background. My partner actually had a book Kennedy had written with him, and the Senator gladly signed it and took the time to chat with us about where we from. Needless to say, I was speechless meeting such a powerful politician and the last man standing in the Kennedy family, and he could not have been more gracious. He had an aura about him that was overwhelming, yet a kind and gentle touch that made him more human than most politicians. It was hard not to like him. I also got to meet Eunice Kennedy Shriver at a Special Olympics event in Allentown at Crumb stadium. She had such grace, charm and charisma you could tell she was a Kennedy. But her kindness and love of the athletes is what impressed me. She really seemed proud of each athlete and happy for them, yet quite humble about what she had created.

Around the time I was in High School I read a lot about the Kennedy family, and learned about the dark side of the Kennedy men from father Joe on down. If my poor grandparents ever knew about JFK's personal life, oy vey! they'd roll over in their graves. However, the bottom line is NO family in America has given to this country what the Kennedys have. As a family and as individuals, they had their faults, their bad behavior and apparent ignorance of the cardinal sins, but their sacrifices as a family are unsurpassed. A new generation of Kennedys now serves their country, and I'm sure more generations will continue to as well. That's what the Kennedys do best: They ask what they can do for their country, and then do it. That's quite a legacy to leave behind, one that may never be matched. We'll all miss you Ted, but now at last the brothers are finally together again. Thank you for your service to our country, and may you rest in peace.