#March For Our Lives

Today is the day. The day when our youth march in protest against gun violence and lax gun laws. They are marching for their lives. They are marching for the lives of future generations. They are marching for us. Yes. They are marching for me and for you. They are marching for anyone that could get caught up in gun violence…in schools, at the shopping mall, at the theater, everywhere.

It is not just a kids’ march. It’s a march for all of us. Yes, it was organized by kids in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting that took seventeen lives but it is a march for us all. We have to have their back. We adults have to have their back. They can make a difference and watching coverage from one city to another it is clear that these kids are angry. They want change. They are ready to march and to speak out and to fight for a change. And we have to have their back. We have to support them. We have failed them and it is our turn to stand up and support them.

Here in Portland, as I write, the march is underway. The numbers are huge. Police are baffled. They didn’t know what to expect as far as numbers and they still can’t make a good estimate. They know that there are approximately 12,000 in the vicinity of Court House Square but there are many more still marching toward the area where speeches will be made. There are miles of marchers approaching. The marchers are all ages. There are people of all generations, adults and teens and children.

And it is peaceful. Peace. What a concept.

It is also vocal. And it is important to note that politicians are watching and listening. These marchers are mostly either of voting age or are approaching voting age within a very few years. Politicians need to listen because these kids are not going any place but to the voting booths across the country in elections in local cities, and in states and in our nation.

We need to have their backs. If you can’t go out and march that’s okay. You can still support them. You can write about it. You can talk about it. You can tweet. You can contact your local representatives. Keep it going. They are marching for me and for you. Don’t forget that.

#March for our lives.

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When In Times Of Trouble

We live in very troubled times. Troubled in a lot of ways but I am thinking about politically troubled. We seem to have more than the usual number of flawed leaders. We are left with no where to turn.

I have been turning to TV. To streaming, really. What do I stream? I have chosen The West Wing. It’s seven seasons. I’ve turned to it several times. I watch the entire series from pilot to Tomorrow (the title of the last episode of season seven). This is a show that shows how leaders should be; how they should comport themselves. Yes, they are flawed at times but they genuinely want to do the right thing for the people that elected them, for the country in general.

This year, I’ve felt that unsettled feeling of desperation with regard to our political leaders so much that I am currently on my ninth time watching this series from start to finish. It gives me hope that some day, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll have the right kind of leadership. We’ll have sincere, concerned, devoted, and honest leadership. One can only hope.

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Celebration

Today I watched the memorial service for Teddy Kennedy.  Speaker after speaker told wonderful stories of Teddy’s love for life; of his generosity and genuine concern for everyone he met, whether a friend or a foe.  In that room (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts) there was so much joy and so much sadness.  Today was a day to remember the things and people that he loved so much.j

I came away from with a new respect and awareness of Teddy Kennedy as a person.  Today I came to love him and miss him even more.

I think, too, that in that room we were able to see that the dream will live on.  He instilled in his countless nieces and nephews, in his own children and grandchildren, and every Kennedy relative, the need and the duty to serve the American Public.  That’s Me and You.  I think each of us should bow our head and thank the Powers That Be for sending us Teddy Kennedy.  He showed that all of us, regardless of how imperfect we are, have the capacity and the duty to leave this earth a better place.

I think that the younger Kennedy generation has learned that lesson well and will make their uncle/father/grandfather proud as they follow in his footsteps.

What a wonderful send off.  What a beautiful celebration of a man’s life.

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“And the Dream Lives On…”

I’m still quite stunned at the passing of Teddy Kennedy.  I feel an emptiness inside that I haven’t felt in some time.  It’s a sort of hopelessness.

Like millions of Americans, today is the first day I have lived that there has been no Kennedy brother alive.   I grew up with Kennedy stories everywhere.  I remember having my own little “All the way with JFK” button that my dad got for me at a rally when JFK was running for president.  I remember his election.  I also remember the terrible day in 1963 when I was in second grade when JFK was killed.  I remember watching the coverage and I remember watching as Jack Ruby walked up to Lee Harvey Oswald and killed him.  And I remember watching as Caroline and John John visited the casket then the funeral procession and the eulogies.  I remember it all.  And there among the multitude of Kennedys was Teddy.  When I was in fifth grade I remember Bobby running for president and I remember wanting to go see him when he came to campaign in our town.   I remember fantasizing that one day I would marry Bobby Kennedy Junior who is a year older than I.  And I was awake on that June night watching the election returns when Bobby was killed.   I remember watching the train that took Bobby’s body from California to Washington D.C.  I remember the words and the voice and the emotion Teddy showed in eulogizing his brother.  Teddy became the face of the Kennedy’s then.  We saw him take charge of the Senate and I knew that as long as there was a Kennedy brother in D.C., there would be someone fighting for the rights and concerns of the Every Day Man.

I could go on and on but it’s all been said, especially in the hours since he passed.    I will probably have more to say at some point when I can collect my thoughts and put them into words.  For now, if you haven’t seen it, let me leave you with a link to Joe Biden’s words about Teddy which are probably the best and most sincere description I have heard of Teddy.

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