Ted Kennedy Was My Neighbor

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

There’s been rumblings lately among some on the other side of the health care debate that neighbors should take care of each other, and I couldn’t agree more.

You see, Ted Kennedy was my neighbor. He was your neighbor, too.

When my two children were born with autism, a developmental disability, Ted Kennedy was there speaking out about the need for head start, a program that my son used to help him make eye contact and understand that he could communicate his needs with words, and not just with crying: http://www.tedkennedy.com/jour…

When my children needed special education services, Ted Kennedy was there, fighting to fund the Individuals With Disabilities Act and giving schools special education grants, so that my daughter could make the leaps and bounds in her development that have enabled her to learn how to read and write: http://www.tedkennedy.com/cont…

Ted Kennedy understood who his neighbor was:

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii [1] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

link: http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/searc…

Ted Kennedy understood why he needed to help his neighbor:

And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

link: http://www.americanrhetoric.co…

Ted Kennedy was my neighbor. He was your neighbor. He was a neighbor to folks who agreed with him, and to folks who didn’t agree with him.

I’ll miss my neighbor, and always remember him as the man who helped my children when they were in need.