When I read of Ted Kennedy's death the other day I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. Not just on a personal level, but for the entire country. I suppose some of that still stems from my youth & the hope many of us felt during the "Camelot Years" of the 60's. That hope faded tragically before the decade was over with the assassinations of his brothers, but Ted Kennedy even despite his own personal demons gradually brought that sense of hope back to millions of Americans through his work in the senate. Say what you will about his liberalism but Senator Kennedy fought for what he believed in every day that he was on the senate floor. His legacy includes having major roles in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, The Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993 & Meals On Wheels. That's only five examples of the hundreds of pieces of legislation that he has sponsored over the years, and so for me that sense of loss comes down to substance. Unlike Jack & Bobby before him who made us feel like there was nothing we couldn't accomplish if we were commited to it (and I still believe they could have led us there had they been given the chance)... Ted Kennedy had that chance....and he served us all well.
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