Senator Ted Kennedy dies - a great American in my life

I happened to wake up in the middle of the night, well, at around 1 AM, looked at my email, and saw the CNN news alert that Senator Ted Kennedy passed away of brain cancer at 77 years old. So I got out of bed and made this vlog.

I did so because Ted Kennedy was a big part of my life and generation. No. I never met him; always wanted to but I didn't place a high priority on making that happen. Frankly, the idea of Senator Kennedy passing on just wasn't one I could wrap my mind around.

But it happened.

Ted Kennedy is one of the greatest elected officials of our time. He's great because he cared and fought for people who did not have what he had. He's great for his staying power. And, yes, he's great because he was a Kennedy.

 

Senator Ted Kennedy

He's the last of "the brothers" to grace our time and my life. JFK was killed one year after I was born. Bobby Kennedy was murdered in 1968. JFK jr. - who I had high hopes would become, and really did achieve the level of, a force in "entrepreneurial politics" with the magazine "George" passed suddenly in a plane crash with his wife in 1999. Then there was Ted, the survivor.

Ted Kennedy for me will be remembered for a number of great acts and legislative works. One of them, The Violence Against Women Act that he co-wrote and worked to improve over the years.

But for me, Senator Kennedy will always be remembered for endorsing then-Senator Barack Obama as 44th President of The United States, when many believed he would back then-Senator Hillary Clinton. His move changed the course of the 2008 presidential primary and history, too. Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States.

Ted Kennedy. A great American in my life. A sad day it is.