I think for those of us who can remember John and Robert Kennedy, Ted's passing is extra sad.

[texanwitch]

I was a little kid but I can remember President Kennedy being elected, and of course the excitement of Bobby running for President.

I was so hoping we would have a health care bill before Ted Kennedy died.


Maybe his passing will give some of our Democrats the courage to do what is right.


Have a good journey Teddy.

[sarge43]

1. I feel very old right now.

I keep hearing those Boston Irish voices reminding us that public service is a noble calling, that dreams and hopes are worth fight for and can come true.

Safe passage Senator and again, thank you.

[GCP]

2. Indeed - public service for the good of others seems to be scorned nowadays

Thank you Ronald Raygun.

RIP Ted - the last of the Great Ones.

[Wapsie B]

3. I remember John and Robert as well.

It's tragic they had to die by violent means. I have to wonder how much better things would be if all three brothers had been able to serve their country as long as Ted?

[graywarrior]

4. It brought back that sense of unbelievable loss.

Not the tragedy, not the shock...just the loss of someone really special. Someone who put his family and us first. He will be missed so much.

[GCP]

5. I agree

It feels like I've lost a family member.
He really did care about people like us.

[trof]

6. I remember them well. I was 22 when JFK was shot.

And I've just started reading "Plausible Denial" by Mark Lane (1991)
He makes a good case that the CIA was behind the assassination.

[Demoiselle]

7. I started college in the fall of 1960.

In Massachusetts, no less. We were all caught up in the Kennedy-Nixon race, 99.9 % of us for Kennedy.
I was a senior in college in November of 1963. Suddenly this beautiful man who was calling to us all to join him in the world and make a difference was..gone.
And the losses have just kept coming.

This is a very sad sad day.

[sarge43]

8. In memory of Senator Kennedy

May the dream never fade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOeR2T2rlVk

[KatyaR]

9. I feel really old, too.

It's hard to believe there won't be a Kennedy in office, fighting for all us little guys. It just doesn't seem possible.

I was 6 years old when President Kennedy was killed. I remember bits about it, my dad calling the school to tell Mom (she was the only teacher in a school grades 1-8, 12 students). I remember how very, very sad everyone was. A friend of my mother's years later gave me a copy of a book written by the Kennedy children's nanny while they were in the White House. It made a huge impression on me. Caroline is only a few months younger than me, and I guess that made me feel somewhat close to her in some way.

Of course, I remember when Bobby was killed as well, the shock that something horrible like that could happen again. And years later, when Jackie died and John Jr. and his wife died, I just felt so bad for Caroline, losing her mother and then her brother. Now she's lost her uncle, too--my heart is just broken for her, and all of us, too, really.

Teddy Kennedy always reminded me of my Uncle Arnold. His passing today makes me feel like I've lost a family member. :cry:

[timtom]

10. I think you're right.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. My dear texanwitch...

I was nearly old enough to vote for JFK...how much I wanted to vote for him!

And I remember vividly all the deaths. So tragic, so much waste, so much loss.

It's small consolation now, but at least Teddy lived a much more nearly normal life span.

The Lion of the Senate...

Safe passage to him...

:cry:

[texanwitch]

12. I remember walking with my Aunt going door to door when John was running for President.

We had door hangers to hand out, I remember putting them together at night.

I was 6 years old at the time just old enough to remember.

I was teenager when Bobby was running for President.

Now Teddy is gone.

:cry:

[applegrove]

13. I'm too young to remember but this is a sad day. Only last year Edward Kennedy

was a powerhouse among democrats. We lost a great one.

[Shell Beau]

14. I wasn't alive then. But like Ted, they both left amazing legacies.

And I have said that a bunch, but it is true. The Kennedy brothers were something else. Not sure if we will ever see that again either, which makes it even sadder.

[yellowdogintexas]

15. so true. I almost can't remember when he wasn't in the Senate

reminds me of my mom talking about FDR..'when he died we thought the world had come to an end, we were still at war and we never knew anyone else as president'


I will miss him terribly. However I cried myself into a heap of jello when he spoke at the convention last yr. I think I did most of my grieving in advance. Today I only got weepy listening to Orrin Hatch's interview on NPR

[mentalsolstice]

16. I'm two weeks younger than JFK Jr.

So I don't really remember that. However, my first real crush was on Bobby, and I was shattered when he was assassinated. Teddy really accomplished more than his brothers...and even perhaps if they had live out their natural lives. Some Senators, if they serve long enough, have more impact than certain presidents.

Teddy served through 10 presidencies, and yes he accomplished more than certain presidents, whom I'll not name.

[Xipe Totec]

17. I wore black clothes as a sign of mourning when Bobby died

The kicker is, I was still living in Mexico at the time, and did not speak a word of English.

But I knew who Bobby was, and I knew who JFK was.

And I knew we had lost a friend.

As I know we have just lost another friend with Teddy's passing.

[Awsi Dooger]

18. I was at the JFK Museum in Boston the day Eunice Shriver died

Just by chance, a planned stop on my trip. A reporter from the Boston Globe was interviewing a few of us in the parking lot, and they had a memorial book to sign just inside the door, then later a film of Eunice speaking two years ago at the Courage award presentation.

As I walked around that day I was thinking that Ted would pass soon. Very numbing. I looked at the photographs, including one big one, with the entire family, Ted as a young boy.

I'm too young to remember JFK but Bobby was killed at the end of 3rd grade. My dad talked politics the night before, then I awoke to see the news about the shooting, on the channel where my children's show should have been. Ted's eulogy was so moving I can still picture where I watched it, in our Florida room.

Extra sad indeed.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

19. I still have my JFK button.

I wore it to the First Grade at a private school in the fall of 1960.

I was at Music Camp at Baylor when Bobby was killed.

So sad.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

20. They have been part of our families in a sense

- father figures perhaps. They've inspired us, been our role models, made us proud. I was 8 when JFK was assassinated. I heard the news about RFK on my radio at age 13... Lay in bed for hours crying and thinking and worrying... nobody to talk to since it was after midnight... After learning of Teddy's illness, I vowed I would go to Washington to pay my respects when the time came, but his death comes on the heels of 2 major losses this summer - my beloved dog who died tragically and unexpectedly at the hands of a negligent vet, and my very good friend who died as a result of a car accident. His memorial service was Sunday... I feel emotionally spent, old and very sad, wondering who or what could possibly fill these voids. The summer of death.