Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy (D-MA) died of brain cancer on Tuesday, August 25, 2009.August 27, 2009: Countless people are paying tribute to the great Senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy. Most of these accolades are rooted in personal stories -- and I have mine. Currently, as CEO of SOS Children’s Villages – USA, I look back to the time when I wore a different hat, as Executive Director of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the leading organization on prevention of unintentional injury to children in the US.Senator Kennedy loved children, cared greatly about all child welfare issues, and was Chair of SAFE KIDS of Boston during the ten years that I led the organization.Children and people were all the same to the Senator; children from Boston or Botswana were all in need of respect and protection.
As head of SAFE KIDS in all 50 states, I was fortunate to have access to Senator Kennedy. He would often meet with me personally in his office where he would regale me and my staff with stories of family triggered by the photos, children's drawings or other memorabilia covering his office walls.
One year, Senator Kennedy consented to holding a hearing on the status of childhood injury before the full Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. We were thrilled. At that hearing we gave testimony on the progress of preventing unintentional childhood injury in the US (from car crashes, fires, poisoning, falls, etc), numbers which had dropped by a significant margin. He and fellow committee member, Senator Chris Dodd (who was Honorary Chair of SAFE KIDS Connecticut), were gracious, laudatory and sat before us for two hours listening intently and asking very good, informed questions.
A year or so later, I got a call from his wife, Vicki, asking me to be a part of a taskforce on gun safety. She had pulled together conservatives as well as liberals on the issue of kids and guns and, frankly, had her hands full reaching consensus on anything. Yet, to celebrate our work together, Vicki invited the whole group to her and her husband’s home in Washington.
That night I witnessed firsthand Teddy Kennedy’s sheer happiness and love of people. It was clear that he admired his wife enormously, and gave us a tour of their home that we would all remember. Silver framed family photographs documenting more than half a century of American history were everywhere, as well as other mementos that you wanted to touch and read closely. His tour and hilarious anecdotes were punctuated by his own loud laughter that we all joined in. He was the perfect host and raconteur, spending time with everyone, some of whom he had never met before, and some whose politics certainly were not his. I will never forget that evening as we left with Teddy and Vicki arm in arm, bidding us farewell as we quietly descended their front steps. I bet we all felt the glow of having been received so warmly, with such respect, as if we were special and as if we were Ted Kennedy’s good friends. We all know now that he gave this same feeling to people of all walks of life and circumstances over the years.
An op-ed by George Will in this morning’s Washington Post stated that, "meeting [Ted Kennedy] was like opening a bottle of champagne, knowing him was like drinking it." I was very lucky to have had my little sip.
Heather Paul, PhD
CEO, SOS Children’s Villages-USA
