I just read how over Memorial Day Weekend, Ted Kennedy was sailing his yacht in a regatta off of Cape Cod. Ted Kennedy—one week after a biopsy that revealed brain cancer. Kennedy, with wife and pals by side, out on the ocean. Kennedy’s attitude: “Cancer, shmancer.” It doesn’t matter that death is a week or a month or God knows how far away, Ted just wants to enjoy life while it’s here. Raising his right arm, previously feared incapacitated, when leaving the hospital. Reading the paper in the SUV like he just woke up on a lazy Sunday morning. And now, riding in his yacht on the ocean.
It struck me that this is exactly what we as Americans love most about the Kennedy clan. These are people who live life to the fullest, with gusto and vigor, whatever circumstances may bring. Say what you will about their politics, their boozing, their womanizing, their life of privilege—when you get down to it, it’s really their lust for life that fascinates us all. Two brothers’ lives cut short by assassins’ bullets. But oh, how they lived. You may not like it, but secretly you envy it. Scandal, broken back, trial and tribulation, all in the past: Ted just wants to go out with a bang. The world still needs more Kennedys.
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