September 10, 2009

Senate Tribute To Senator Ted Kennedy

“On August 25, a towering figure on our national political landscape left us.  Edward Moore Kennedy succumbed to a malignant brain tumor after an 18 month battle for his life.  As I look now at his desk, draped with black cloth and covered with flowers, I still have difficulty believing that he is gone.  My ebullient Irish-to-the-core friend has departed this life forever.  How bleakly somber.  How utterly final.  How totally unlike Ted Kennedy in life.

Ted Kennedy in life was a force of nature - - a cheerful, inquisitive, caring man, who never accepted somberness for long or the finality of anything.  His energetic adherence to perseverance, his plain dogged determination, his ability to rise from the ashes of whatever new horrific event accosted him, always with grace, and usually with a liberal dose of humor, were his trademarks.  It was almost as if Ted Kennedy were at the top of his form when coping with adversity.  Life itself inspired him.  He believed that life was a contact sport, but that it should never be played without joy in the game itself.  That is how he saw politics as well.

Ted Kennedy and I were friends and, yet, we were the oddest of odd couples.  He was the scion of a wealthy and storied family.  I am a coal miner's son who had no bottom rungs in my ladder.  In earlier years we were rivals.

What Ted and I discovered, though, was that somehow we had many things in common - - a love of history; an affection for poetry; a fondness for dogs; a commitment to the less fortunate in our society.  Many will speak of Ted's stunning Senate career, his huge and lasting impact on our culture, his domination of the political scene for so many, many decades.  By all means, let us never forget Ted Kennedy's extraordinary contribution to this great country.  It is largely unmatched. 

But, I will especially cherish the personal side of this big man, with his infectious laugh, his booming voice, and his passion for the things and the people that he cared about.  I will remember the dog lover who brought Sunny and Splash to my office to visit.  I will recall a considerate friend who sent dozens of roses to mark my wedding anniversary or a special birthday.  I will again enjoy a very special recitation of the "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."  By habit, I shall immediately look for Ted Kennedy whenever I enter this chamber.  In a thousand ways large and small he will simply be deeply, deeply missed. 

My heart goes out to his steadfast wife, Vickie, and to his wonderful family.  His spirit surely lives on in all of you.

Not long ago, I picked up a book of poetry which Ted Kennedy had given to me in July of 1996.  It bore this inscription:

"To Bob,

The master of our legislative poetry who has already left so many extraordinary 'Footprints on the Sands of Time.'" After that, Ted had written, See page 371.

I close with a few stanzas from "a Psalm of Life" on page 371 of Ted's gift to me:

Life is real!  Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

. . . .

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.”

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