Ted Kennedy Services

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Posting this under news & current events, not political, please.....

I am headed to the JFK Library (where Ireland's Call + family and I went when he was over last time) later today to pay my respects.

I've never gone to one of these and since it's in my back yard, I'd like to experience it. I grew up right across the bay from the JFK Library, live 10 miles due west and work in the People's Republic of Cambridge, so it's not far at all.

Schedule of Events Surrounding the Funeral of Senator Kennedy - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

B.

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

I just received the following email from a friend of mine:

I was very fortunate to have personally known three of Joe Kennedy’s sons. I first met Senator John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Ted Kennedy at a Washington cocktail party in 1957. My late Uncle was a Washington lobbyist and a strong old yellow-dog Democrat. The party was at his home at 2828 Albemarle Avenue, NW, in DC, adjacent to Rock Creek Park. My Uncle Ralph was later the Chairman of President Kennedy’s first post-inaugural birthday party, which I had the honor to attend. I actually worked in the Kennedy White House that entire summer with my Uncle as he organized the event. And, yes, this was the event that featured Marilyn Monroe and her “Happy Birthday Mr. President” song.

President Kennedy and especially Bobby had a rough and tough type of attitude and were not that good about making the deals necessary to make things work in Washington. I remember that my Uncle would say he had a hard time trusting Bobby. Ted Kennedy, on the other hand, was a person known to keep his word. A deal was a deal with Teddy. Teddy also had a special spirit about him and loved to engage people and seemed to live to make the political compromise. The give and take of the negotiation process fit him like a warm glove in the winter. He would religiously call friends and foes when good and bad things happened to them or to members of their families, staff, etc. A letter, a short note, a telephone call, a brief comment, a smile and a wink, etc., was always Teddy’s style. I still have several notes he sent me over the years.

The Irish and I mean the true Irish seem to possess a special joy for life and people and love to make deals and especially to tell absolutely wicked stories about the deals they made and especially the ones they missed and just about anything else under the sun. Of all the three Kennedy sons I knew, Ted Kennedy was the Kennedy closest to that true Irish spirit. The other brothers were different – all of them heroes in one way or the other, all dying young. Teddy was the ultimate survivor, not a hero, and not so much a romantic as the one who carried the load. And he carried a might heavy load for his family, for himself, and for the political legacy of the Kennedy family. Whether you loved him or hated him, he did a lot of “heavy lifting” for all of us in the US Senate.

And, I do not want to sugarcoat Teddy’s lack of heroism. Forty summers ago, on a warm might, the car he was driving on Martha’s Vineyard skidded off the bridge into 8 feet of water at Chappaquiddick. The passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, who had worked in Bobby’s presidential campaign, drowned in the car. Kennedy later called his decision to swim to safety and abandon the scene “indefensible”. He could have used the same term to characterize his own description of the incident. It was a tragedy for the Kopechne family and should have ended Teddy’s career and certainly doomed any realistic hope he ever had to become President.

But, in my view the true measure of Ted Kennedy is that he found redemption from Chappaquiddick in his work in the Senate. He survived a tragedy of his own making that would have unmade any other politician. He understood how the Senate is supposed to work and he made it work. He made his deals and compromised positions and passed some of the most progressive legislation of the past 30 years.

We have all made our share of mistakes in this life. The longer we live the more we make. The true test of a man or woman is what they do with themselves after the mistakes. What do they do after they have been knocked down? How do they get up and what do they do when they are back on their feet? Ted Kennedy, with a gilded name in politics and the weight of one family tragedy after another, was able to overcome it all, to turn the boat around, and to run it hard with the wind in his face for the last 30 years. In this life, all of us are broken down more than once. A few of us are able to turn these breaks into positive events. Many more of us never get over them at all. Teddy Kennedy was one of those rare individuals who was able to overcome a litany of rotten fate, bad luck, bad judgment, and errors of character to remold himself into one of our greatest United States Senators. We have lost the ultimate survivor and the consummate deal maker when we needed him the most.

[IreneLF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IreneLF]

Beags, If I lived in the area, I'd be going too. I'd be interested to read about what it was like and hope you can post a little .

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Beags, If I lived in the area, I'd be going too. I'd be interested to read about what it was like and hope you can post a little .

Will do.
I've never been able to get to Washington D.C. or NYC for services for other notables, but this is close by and he was my Senator.

Thanks,
B.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I was a 4th grader when JFK died.

One of our neighbors decided to drive with his wife and 2 kids to Washington DC for the funeral.
We all loaded into the station wagon in the middle of the night and drove from the Bronx.
We managed to get into the cemetery right near the big gates...

and watched the funeral procession go by.

We then stayed overnight in a motel and the next day went back to the cemetary -we stood on a long line but were able to walk past the grave piled high with flowers and the eternal flame.

I will never forget - I am glad u r going, Beags.
Thanks for sharing your friends recollections, Hoc.

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

If you can wait until tomorrw PM we will join you ...flight lands at 15.45 ..so should be in Custom House around 16.30 (Marjorie is from Wexford ,,the home county of the family)
M/G

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

If you can wait until tomorrw PM we will join you ...flight lands at 15.45 ..so should be in Custom House around 16.30 (Marjorie is from Wexford ,,the home county of the family)
M/G

Garry, you will just miss it

Visiting hours for the public will be on Thursday evening from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. and on Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m

I believe after the viewing in Boston, he will go to Washington for burial..not sure where the funeral mass will be.
Let me see.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32569408/

On Saturday morning, a funeral Mass for the late senator will be celebrated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica — commonly known as the Mission Church — in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. The 1,300-seat basilica on Tremont Street, built in the 1870s, was where Kennedy prayed frequently in 2003 while his daughter, Kara, successfully battled her own cancer.

"Over time, the Basilica took on special meaning for him as a place of hope and optimism," the family statement said.

President Barack Obama will speak at the Mass, according to the Times.

Slain brothers
Kennedy's body will be flown to Virginia for a 5 p.m. Saturday private burial service at Arlington, the famous hillside that is the final resting site of others from the storied clan, including former first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.

At the site of the eternal flame rest four Kennedy family members: the former president and his wife; their baby son, Patrick, who died after two days; and a stillborn child. Robert Kennedy's grave is a short distance away.

Edward Kennedy will be buried approximately 95 feet south of Robert's grave, NBC News reported.

"Senator Kennedy spent more days than most at Arlington visiting the graves of his beloved brothers and paying tribute to the fallen men and women of Massachusetts who gave their lives for our country," the family statement said.

So Garry, there will be a funeral procession in town going to church - you should be able to view it.

BTW, Welcome Back to America!

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

"How fitting his death coincides with the election of the first black President "...CNN news
M/G

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Glad you are going Beags. Hoc, thanks for sharing the letter. He did a lot for the lower and middle class. shaggy

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

I went and am very glad. Will report back in full, but I'm at work and very tired.

Waited in line 3.5 hours. All in line very respectful, friendly, somber. All ages, ethnicities, creeds, colors and party affiliations present.

Met Teddy, Jr., some Lawfords and some of Bobby's adult children in the receiving line. All so gracious and thanking each one who waited. Signed the guest book.

Honor guard was incredible. Like statues.

More to follow.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Beags, I saw a bit on the news both last night and this morning. Very impressed at the family members who were there thanking everyone who came. I also saw that the viewing time was extended, yesterday at least. I look forward to your update and impressions.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

It looked exactly like the numbers 1-5 photos here: Thousands Mourn Senator Edward M. 'Ted' Kennedy At JFK Library In Boston - cbs5.com

Not sure if my photos will come out as it was dark during my wait from 8:15 pm to ~ 11:35 pm. I'll get them out soon.