We were all a part of the family tonight...

[armyowalgreens]

I have never known that much about Ted Kennedy. He was way before my time.

But out of all the public memorials I have seen over the years, this one seemed the most genuine and welcoming, by far.

I was really enjoying the stories of this mysterious figure. Tonight, we left politics behind and honored a good man.

RIP Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

[Withywindle]

1. I was so moved by the way

Joe Biden kept addressing individuals in the family: "Your father." "Your brother." "Your uncle." "Your grandfather."

And through the TV, I felt included in that.

[armyowalgreens]

3. Yeah I definitely felt like I was a part of it.

Hatch, Culver, Biden and Caroline were all very moving.

[malaise]

4. That was lovely

Joe kept it real - a truly lovely wake

[cleveramerican]

2. such a good man.

hard worker, kind and smart

what more can any of us aspire to?

[scarletwoman]

5. Psst - 1932, not 1962. (nt)

[armyowalgreens]

6. Shit sorry guys. I knew it was 32 but was thinking 62 for some reason.

Both were quite a long time ago for me.

[LuvNewcastle]

9. He was elected to the Senate in1962.

That's probably what you were thinking of.

[scarletwoman]

13. No problem. I just thought maybe you'd like a chance to fix that part of your OP. (nt)

[Subdivisions]

7. I've been out. What did I miss and will it be shown again? n/t

[Hekate]

10. I hope someone knows. I missed most of it, but I have to say Orrin Hatch made me LOL...

... as did some retired Senator from Ohio who met Teddy when they were kids at Harvard and was dragooned onto the sailboat in stormy weather. "I'd never seen a sailboat. Oh, I'd seen some barges on the Ohio River, but..."

Funny stories, touching stories, stories of a man with a heart as big as all outdoors. We are all the richer for his having been here in our time.

Hekate

[dflprincess]

15. Former Senator John Culver

from Iowa, not Ohio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Culver

That was a wonderful story he told.

[Hekate]

21. Thank you for the correction. I couldn't read the names on the screen most of the time...

... because I have closed-captions on almost all the time. The acoustics are terrible (sure they are) and CC helps me keep the volume down.

Hekate

[sarge43]

8. It was the hail and farewell he earned and deserved. n/t

[mmonk]

11. The Kennedys, it seems, have marked my life as long as I can

remember. From watching the horse drawn coffin of JFK and my father handing me the book, "The Torch Is Passed", through all the events, triumphs, and tragedies to this moment, it seems to have passed through the major moments of my life growing up Catholic in a small southern town 20 miles out from the city. It's all real hard to explain. It's hard not to get choked up, after all, and through those moments in history.

[dflprincess]

16. When John Jr. died a local radio host, & newspaper columnist, Nick Coleman (no relation to Norm)

took a call from some young one who was peeved that the whole show had been about John Jr. (This was the day after his plane was lost and we were all clinging to hope).

Coleman sighed and said something to the effect of "You have to be an Irish Catholic of a certain age to understand this. When we were young we wanted to be Kennedys, and if we couldn't be them we at least wanted to be their friends. And when something like this happens, we still think that we're their friends and we want them to know that we're here if they need us."

Being an Irish Catholic of a certain age, I knew what Coleman meant, I know the feeling you're trying to explain. We grew up with them and it feels like we've stood with them in good times and in bad.

[mmonk]

17. Yes, it feels like we have a bond that others can't quite get.

My family still has its family reunions and all in the World War II generation have finally passed recently, but our generation in the family seems to have marked our time through all of this. It meant something to my father, my uncles, while also my cousins, etc. and all of us.

[dflprincess]

20. The WWII generation is all gone on my dad's side

but my mom and 2 of her sisters are left on the maternal side (I always swear, my Mom thought she was Jackie and one of her sisters thought she was Ethel) - and one of my aunt's husband is stil with us. They're all in their late 80s but doing pretty good. Mother and her sisters have all been in mourning this week - one of them commented that sometimes it seems they've "been to" (meaning watched on TV) as many Kennedy funerals as they've been to family funerals.

My dad love John Kennedy because they were both Pacific veterans (though Pop was Air Corp) and he thought they had that in common as well as the Irish Catholic thing.

I was very young when my dad died and I expected one of my uncles to step up for my brother & I the way Bobby had done when the president was killed and the way Teddy did after Bobby died. None of them did. And my brother & I really could have used an Uncle Teddy.

[mmonk]

22. I'm sorry you lost your dad at an early age. It's good your mom

and aunts are still with you.

[mmonk]

18. BTW, my two sons are named Robert and John. My mother used

to call my John, John John. I guess if we have an Edward, it will be a grandson ;)

[jwirr]

19. They all seem to have a nack for making you feel that you are one

of them or could be. I remember setting at a charity hospital with other mothers waiting for help for our children and talking about Jackie the first lady making us feel that she would just come and set and talk with us. Now I realize that was idiotic but it was how Camelot felt. And you do not have to be Irish Catholic to feel that way.

[mmonk]

23. It was deeper. A generational thing, I think.

A generation marked by the same dreams and aspirations. Though I come from a Catholic family, my father's side of the family is Monk, which is English, and my mother's side, Gibson which is Scottish (surname from middle English).

[Jennicut]

12. I agree...his family and his friends loved him deeply

And that shone through. He was such a warm, generous person. And the stories about him showed that. I am in my early thirties but Teddy was an inspiration to me in the last few years.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

14. No, my friend, he was not "way before your time."

He WAS your time. He's been the senior Senator from Massachusetts for your whole life. And possibly for your parents' lives.

And he got legislation passed that affects you every day, so, trust me, he was of your time.

Besides, you have an obligation to know about things "before your time." It's called "history."

You want to end up looking like Meghan McCain in this clip?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGnGAIuYgM