The Last One Is Gone...

Edward Moore Kennedy
February 22, 1932 - August 25, 2009

Edward "Ted" Kennedy was a U. S. Senator of Massachusettes and a member of the Democratic Party. In office from November 1962 until his death, Ted served nine terms in the senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the senate, and the third longest-serving senator in U.S. history. He was best known as one of the most outspoken and effective senate proponents of progressive causes and bills. He died of brain cancer on Tuesday, August 25, 2009, at his home in Hyannis Port, MA, two weeks after the death of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver. He is survived by his wife Victoria, his sister Jean Kennedy Smith, and his three children.

Edward, John, and Robert Kennedy

For many years, Ted was the most prominent living member of the Kennedy family. He was the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both victims of assassinations, and the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy. The oldest Kennedy brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (not seen in the above photo), was killed in 1944 during World World II while serving in England. Ted was the last surviving son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose F. Kennedy. The couple also had five daughters... Rosemary, Kathleen Agnes, Eunice Mary, Patricia, and Jean Ann Kennedy.
As far back as my mind will take me, I have always known about the Kennedy family. Even though I was only 6 years old at the time, I remember the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. My mother, after a hard day of work, was climbing the stairs up to the apartment where we were living at the time with a Daily News in her hand and tears streaming down her face. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that something really bad happened to the president. After she had a chance to collect herself, she sat me down and tried to delicately explain the circumstances surrounding his death.
By the time Robert "Bobby" Kennedy was assassinated, I was old enough to watch and understand the news on my own so, the memory of what happened to him is much more vivid in my mind. It was a very turbulent time and we lost several prominent leaders (white and black) back-to-back over the course of a few years. We were no longer living in an apartment by that time and had moved into a house. My mother still lives in that house and to this day, she still has those old 8 x 10 glossy photos of presidents and prominent leaders (that were tucked inside the Sunday newspaper from time to time) hanging on her front porch. Among them... John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the remaining members of the Kennedy family at this time. Even though there are lots of vivid color photographs of Ted Kennedy and his brothers floating around on the internet, I deliberately chose to use these older black and white photos for this post. Somehow, I felt the need to say "something" about the loss of the last remaining Kennedy brother and I guess it's because the Kennedy family has been the closest thing that the United States ever had to a "royal family". It is truly the end of an era and they were an intricate part of our past history that is now gone forever.
Footnote: Armorial bearings granted by the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland to the descendants of Patrick Kennedy on Saint Patrick's Day 1961.