Kennedy

What do I have to say about my senator?

Not much. There are posers all over facebook talking about how sad it is blah blah blah.
It IS sad.
It's always sad when someone dies. Especially someone who suffered as the end drew near.

Senator Kennedy DID do good things for this state and country. He did have a past that was ripe with scandal. Most of the time I didn't know what to make of him.
I've never voted for him - I personally voted for new blood, though Kerry annoys me much more, I always thought it'd be good to see what would happen if someone new got in. Plus I knew he'd never lose....no, not in Massachusetts.

Scandal and politics aside, I did know a few quite nice things about the Senator:

He called our friend who lost her daughter on 9/11 every year on the anniversary to check in.

My father bumped into him once at the airport after talking to an aide. It was while I was in Africa. The aide said "Senator, the trooper's daughter is in Kenya, studying abroad." My father said he smiled and said "Kenya! Excellent. Where does she go to school?" He said "Smith." My father said Kennedy lit up and said something the lines of "that's wonderful/you must be proud/etc."

I'm sure there are a million of these little anecdotes.

There's certainly a long political legacy he leaves behind.

But all I can think of is this (and this is what makes me a bad person!)
When he got sick
He found the best doctor in the world for his type of cancer
Flew to Duke
Had probably a 250,000-500,000 brain surgery
It did not save him, but bought him time......

Which was his right, of course, given he could afford it.
BUT.
Would he have made sure health care reform would've covered us common folk had we wanted the same procedure?

About that, I am skeptical.

For now, I am grateful I am going away tomorrow. Because for what it's worth in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, royalty has died, and no one likes a skeptic at a state funeral.