February 22, 1932 - August 25, 2009
So many individual reflections on Senator Kennedy are,
by their details, painting a clear, consistent story about the excellent man
he was. Yes, excellent – no matter
what flaws and errors may
have existed as well. Such is life. Such is especially true of large life. And
large is a small word for Ted Kennedy.
When I was in college, my sister lived in Cambridge in a
third-floor walk-up on a hill near Harvard. While visiting, I had to make a run
to the post office, one of those grand old edifices, with steps up to
the main doors, lots of stone and ornate metal work, a series of service
windows against the back wall. It was busy day at the P.O., maybe 2 or 3 people in line for
each window.
As I was concluding my business at the window, the interior space
suddenly shifted, almost as if the floor had tilted. I turned my head to see that
everyone who had been in line was now exiting the building or had left their place in line to peer
out the front doors. I looked quizzically to the clerk, who explained, simply,
“Kennedy.”
Sure enough, Senator Ted Kennedy and a small entourage of
male aides were walking up Massachusetts Avenue and were now in front of this
building. As I exited the main doors, I paused to observe the others rushing
down the steps to shake his hand. People were coming from across the street,
too. Kennedy welcomed every hand.
Two thoughts hit me. First, “So that’s what a really
expensive suit looks like. Worth every penny.” And then: “Oh. Charisma. But
more.”
In that one moment I “got” the palpable force of energy that
creates capital-C Charisma. It’s not just good looks, though Kennedy was in
peak condition that day. It’s not
just charm, though he had that, too.
It is a force field of energy that is wholly its own thing and exceedingly
rare. It had reached from the city sidewalk right into the building and sucked
the people out onto the street. I stood transfixed at the top of the steps and
took it in, memorizing what I was seeing. People, who just moments before had
been standing sleepily in line at that wall of windows, were now smiling
broadly from a mere handshake and some eye contact. Amid all of this activity
swirling around him, Kennedy even
took the time to look up to where I was standing, make eye contact, smile broadly, and wave. I smiled back. And then he
moved on.
I had felt tired as I trudged down to the P.O., - I didn’t
want to make the run, my sister had pressed me into service - but now I was
enlivened. I ran up the hill to my sister’s apartment and bounded up all three flights of steps to announce,
“Guess who I just saw!” The force of his presence was so enormous that it had
energized me into this easy sprint home. And it stayed with me for hours
afterward.
In the years since, I have met and worked with many famous
people, so I’ve been around a lot of charisma – plenty of good looks and charm and sex appeal
and personal buzz - but very few of them had the “more” that I witnessed in
Senator Kennedy. Today, I would call it Soul Energy. Reading so many lovely and
striking personal reflections of this “lion” today, I keep thinking how well he
spent that precious resource.
“And you know, he was never defeatist, he never was petty -- never...petty. He was never small. And in the process of his doing, he made everybody he worked with bigger, both his adversaries as well as his allies. Don't you find it remarkable that one of the most partisan, liberal men in the last century, serving in the Senate, had so many of his (long pause) so many of his foes embrace him, because they know he made them bigger. He made them more graceful by the way in which he conducted himself.” - Vice President Joe Biden
Certain patterns emerge. The almost unimaginable support and presence he lent to the surviving children of his brothers, while simultaneously seeing friends and colleagues through sickness and celebrations. An incredible generosity, Far-reaching
kindness. The rich laughter. He was humble. Friendly. Thoughtful. An impeccable work ethic. Sound judge of character. The voice, the voice, that essential voice. And “the Senate chamber, although
crowded, will feel empty without him.” Well yes, that energy will be gone. When
you realize how many lives he touched and in what ways, you recognize the extraordinary
amount of soul energy it takes to reach so far and so deep and so high.
We all have notions that we want to believe. Today, I want
to believe the one about how we are welcomed on the other side by our loved ones and ancestors.
I really want to believe that Ted Kennedy crossed over to see so many Kennedy’s
waiting there …with his three older brothers right in front, smiling those big
grins and saying to their baby brother, “Well done, Teddy. Well done!”
As for those of us still here, we’ll have to decide what we
want to weave in the energetic void he has left. Such a void is an invitation and can be a
blessing, if we fill it artfully and well.
If…