I first shook hands with Teddy Kennedy in 1962! I was then a student at MIT and Teddy had just announced that he was running for the senate seat vacated by his brother Jack. He would stand next to the exit from the subway trains and introduce himself to all saying " I am Teddy Kennedy and I am running for the senate."
A decade later, I was traveling to the US on some official work for my consulting company and I was taken to a separate room for interrogation by the customs and immigration officials at the Kennedy airport. Yes, this was 1974 and yes the profiling was a common problem for us even then. In this case, they pretty much wrecked my entire suitcase including cutting open a stuffed elephant that I was carrying for a family friend who worked with Teddy Kennedy.When I met Jerry Tinker to congratulate him on the birth of his daughter and lamented that the elephant I was bringing as a gift now lay cut and bleeding with the customs in new york, he was most concerned. Those were the days when there were reports of CIA deliberately planting drugs on unsuspecting tourists to convert them into spies! Jerry promised to ensure that this did not happen and the next day gave me a letter signed by Kennedy that I carried for the next decade in all my trips to the US.
A decade later, our daughter, Shibani was studying at American University. One summer she was fortunate enough to intern with Senator Kennedy's office, an experience she cherishes to this day.
The last few days have been full of the life and times of Teddy Kennedy. Since his death on Tuesday, he has been lionized as " greatest senator of our time" and the " lion of the senate".But the real story of his life is one of the power of redemption from self inflicted wounds-- from his expulsion from Harvard for cheating, the death of Mary Kopechne,the drinking and carousing in the late eighties.That he fell, no one doubted but that he recovered from each and every one of his falls is really the true story of his life. And the real lesson from his life? Never ever give up.
My last contact with Senator Kennedy was when our great friend, Jerry Tinker, who had by then become the chief of Kennedy's Refugee committee died prematurely.It was the first wake that I had gone to and I was touched by the fact that a number of senators were present and spoke in such glowing terms of Jerry and recalled with great humor the life and times of Jerry. Teddy Kennedy gave a rip roaring eulogy. Sadly that was the last time I shook hands with Teddy Kennedy.
Having been remiss in not reading your earlier articles, I could not resist your most recent 'posting' on Teddy Kennedy after spending much of the weekend watching his moving funeral service and visiting his simple but dignified gravesite at Arlington early this Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteI never had the opportunity to meet the late Senator- but I have spoken with several who knew him well. Your note captures very well the qualities of this great public figure. Neither the 'right' nor the 'left has captured the essence of the late Senator: the 'right' chastises him too readily for his personal failings and for his liberal politics, frankly, an un-Christian response to this most Christian of public figures; the 'left' does not understand the word 'redemption', perhaps in secular terms but certainly not in spiritual terms.
So very well done! Eugene
Thanks, Anil, for your appreciation of Ted Kennedy. As you know I worked for him in the '60s -- was one of his aides/guides in Viet-Nam, just before the Tet Offensive. I have been very moved all weekend watching the send-off and, visiting Boston, being among the thousands to pay my personal respects at the JFK Library. I had the good fortune of a brief reunion with him in Boston just months before his illness.
ReplyDeleteJohn Sommer