Teddy Kennedy

I’ve always been proud to have been born in the state of Massachusetts and never more so than this week. I had a political crush on Robert Kennedy from the minute I knew anything about him, but it’s Ted who more closely epitomized what I love and worry about: anxiety about fulfilling a life’s purpose, about serving the common good, about converting privilege into usefulness, about steady, methodical, effective work towards broad goals, about redeeming a late start in life (not least due to familial issues). His tenacity, idealism and pragmatism, as well as his hard living response to expectation, obligation and the inevitable repression that attends those burdens all feel like New England to me and I’m proud to be part of that particular, liberal, formal, conflicted heritage.

Thanks, Teddy, for your work and your example. May we all live up to your standard.