Senator Ted Kennedy

As you may have read, Ted Kennedy, senior Senator from Massachusetts, died on August 25th from brain cancer. His funeral procession took place on August 27th. The motorcade progressed from his home in Hyannis Port, through downtown Boston past many buildings that were important in the Senator’s life, and was taken to the John F. Kennedy Library for a closed-casket viewing open to the public.

We heard sketchy details about this plan the night before, and woke up early to make it out to the JFK Library as soon as it opened, thinking the viewing would already have started. We found out after we got there about the plans for the procession, and that the body would not be at the library for another 8 hours. We decided to tour the museum while we were there. It was a fascinating visit, documenting John F. Kennedy’s life, including his elections to Senate and Presidency, the Cuban Missile Crisis, formation of the Peace Corps, the beginnings of the space program, and finally his assassination. Although Ted Kennedy’s body was not in the museum, we visited the room where it would be taken, and signed the memorial book.

Having learned about the funeral procession, we set out for downtown so we would be able to see it drive by. We still aren’t familiar with much of the city, so Boston Common near the Statehouse was the only part of the route we were familiar with. We sat around in Boston Common for a few hours, reading and passing time. We managed to get a decent spot on Park St east of the Common, and sat around for a few more hours, as the motorcade was apparently held up by an accident outside of town.

Finally, the funeral procession went by. I wasn’t sure what would happen – usually when such a large crowd gathers, it is for a celebration. I thought that for such a solemn occasion surely cheering would be out of order. However, as it turned out, cheering and applause were a fitting gesture. As we saw the weeping Kennedy family driving by, doing their best to wave to the crowd, nothing seemed more appropriate from a grateful public.