Slan abhaile, Ted*

* Irish for "Safe Home", a traditional Irish farewell blessing

Our country has lost one of its best leaders today, Edward Moore Kennedy.

It's hard to believe the highs and lows he experienced through his long life: the thrill of seeing his brother elected as the first Irish Catholic President, only to have him gunned down three short years later; his only surviving brother killed in turn in 1968; his nephew John Jr. killed in a plane crash in 1999 (just as a plane crash almost killed him in 1964).

But, for all these trials, Ted persevered:

• If you could vote at the age of 18, you can thank Ted;
• If you receive Medicare or Medicaid, you can thank Ted;
• If someone you love has food from Meals on Wheels, you can thank Ted;
  
• If you can vote without intimidation or poll taxes, you can thank Ted;
• If your child's education has improved, you can thank Ted.

For all this, and more, we should all say, "Thank you, Ted".

"...Each time a man stands up for an ideal,
or seeks to improve the lot of others,
or strikes out against injustice,
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope..."

-- Ted Kennedy, eulogy for Robert Kennedy, 1968