Let Us Say A Prayer for Ted Kennedy....


Ted Kennedy’s illness is a deep blow to many of us who have walked the ramparts and stood up to conservative republican attempts to cut back government and give tax breaks to the rich while robbing the middle class of jobs and opportunities.



Ted Kennedy has been the standard bearer and the man who we can look up to for his unfaltering commitment to honesty, integrity and fair play.



He is truly the lion of Congress and the kind of icon we can all believe in.



When I came back a Veteran from overseas, I was living in Massachusetts and Kennedy was still the president.



I stood outside when Kennedy went home to visit.



And I met Bobby and got to shake his hand and say a few words.



Much has happened since that day in November that neither I or anyone will forget.



Nor what was to follow with the loss of Martin and later, Bobby.



I was working in Newark then and the riots were very much a part of my life.



Later on, I wanted to get away from it all and moved to upstate New York, a small town in the middle of nowhere on top of a mountain--nearly two hundred miles away from New York and about 75 miles away from a village of any size.....



As it turned out, my down the mountain neighbor, a District Attorney for New York, was to be John-John’s boss and he came up to visit….and most of us went tubing down the East branch of the Delaware.



Later, Robert Kennedy, the environmentalist started hanging around our general store. We didn’t know at the time that he was taking tests of the local reservoirs that fed New York City which were only minutes away from my mountain home.



Sometimes, it goes like that. And the more you try to escape reality, the more it pokes you in the chest.



I think about these things as I ponder Ted’s life.



In many respects, he accomplished more than either of his brothers; and he was there as a rock for the kids.



He’s been engaged in every progressive issue I can think of.



And he has stood tall for Obama.



I ask myself why can’t he live out his life in peace.



I hope that each and everyone of us will send his office our words of respect and our prayers for his full recovery.



And, tonight, mention him in our prayers.



Ted Kennedy, sleep tight and get better.



We all love you!





Les Aaron