Joe Kennedy: Ted made world a better place
(NECN: Dorchester, Mass.) – Former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, the eldest son of Robert Kennedy, addressed those in attendance at the Celebration of Life Memorial Service for his uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Kennedy thanked the children of Sen. Kennedy for sharing their father, as he and his siblings needed a father figure after the assassination of Robert Kennedy during his presidential campaign in 1968. His cousins, John and Caroline were also left without a father after the November 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “It’s very difficult to share a father with as big a family as the Kennedy’s are. Every single one of my brothers and sisters needed a father, and we gained one through Uncle Teddy. Caroline and John were no different. The Smiths lost their father. The truth of the matter is, for so many of us, we just needed someone to hang on to. And Teddy was always there to hang on to,” Kennedy said. “Teddy, and Patrick and Kara, we want to let you know that we understand how much you gave to allow us to be cared for.” Kennedy said that his uncle lived to help other people, and had as big a heart as anyone he knew. “Teddy had this wonderful way about him, where he could just sense in anyone when they needed a hand,” Kennedy said. Kennedy told an anecdote about a sailing race he once completed with Sen. Kennedy, an used it as a metaphor for the work that the senator completed in his 47 years of service to this country in the U.S. Senate. “If people don’t have health care, you stay in the race. If people don’t have adequate housing, you stay in the race. If people aren’t being treated properly, you stay in the race,” Kennedy said, citing advice given to him by Sen. Kennedy. Joseph Kennedy said the senator made calls to those families who lost loved ones in the September 11th attacks, the Iraq wars and the Afghanistan War. “He lived to make this world a better place,” Kennedy said. “Our country and this world is a better place because of the life of Ted Kennedy.” Material from The Associated Press used in this report.
