09 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 28

Friday. Peapod. Because I'm still pretty sore (as explained in yesterday's challenge post), I really can't/shouldn't do a lot of heavy lifting. So thank goodness for grocery delivery services! All my heavy stuff -- Slim Fast, Coca Cola and a jug of Tidy Cat -- will arrive at my front door this evening. Hurray!

It could be worse

Friends of this blog, the Bumbles, commented recently that, living in Boston, the Kennedy coverage is pretty much wall to wall.

Imagine what it's like to live here, in Chicagoland, and have THIS be the center of the press coverage! Doesn't quite reach the mythical majesty of Camelot, does it?

Friday Fill In

1. He was a gentleman and a scholar.

2. The cool night air, so I can sleep with the window open, is what I look forward to most this time of year.

3. My best friend is related to John and JQ Adams -- isn't that neat?

4. I can't say I miss Michael Jackson one bit, to be honest with you.

5. Appearances can be deceiving -- trite, but true.

6. The last person I gave a hug to was my nephew, who is imminently huggable.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to vegging, tomorrow my plans include vegging and Sunday, I want to veg!

To fill it in for yourself, click here.

Aw ...

Sir Paul and his gal pal, Nancy Shevell, enjoying a Yankee game. This makes me happy.

He can't possibly understand

This is Splash, the oldest of Ted Kennedy's three dogs and rumored to be his favorite. He's shown here in Kennedy's Senate office, sitting beneath a photo of JFK. But the great thing about dogs is that Splash doesn't know about the Kennedy Legacy and wouldn't care if he did. He was just sitting there with the light of his life, his favorite person, the one who gave him treats, scratched his ear, gave him rides in the car and took him sailing. In return, Splash gave his #1 person comfort and unconditional love. Not because Ted Kennedy was one of the most famous men in the world, but because that's what dogs do.

If you visit here often, you know I feel a special bond with dogs and cats. It's such a part of my heart that can't help looking at Ted's death through that prism. Splash can't possibly understand what has happened in his furry world. I wonder how long dogs mourn.

And then there was one

With the recent passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver just two weeks ago and now, of course, Ted Kennedy, there is only sibling of their generation left -- Jean Kennedy Smith (second from left). I wonder what it is like for her these days.

She was there for the rivalry between Joe and Jack ... Honey Fitz ... sailing and swimming and football in Hyannis Port and Palm Springs ... their father's days in Hollywood ... the Roosevelts ... London during the war ... the glamorous but tragic marriage of Kick and Billy ... the heartbreak of Rosemary's illness ... Choate and Harvard ... PT-109 ... the sudden deaths of Joe and Kick ... the political ascendancy of Jack .... the addition of Ethel, Jackie and Joan ... the addition of Sarge, Steve and Peter ... Camelot ... their father's stroke ... the Cuban Missile Crisis ... the Special Olympics ... Dallas, Los Angeles and Chappaquiddick ... Bobby finding his voice and losing his life ... the trials of the "kids" (many of whom are in their 50s now), including drugs, cancer, brushes with the law and more tragic young deaths ... their mother's 100th birthday and her passing ... Teddy's growth into elder statesman ... her own time as Ambassador to Ireland ...

My mother and her brother are both seniors now and neither is in great health. My mother is stronger than she was six months ago, but she has COPD and a bad knee and tires easily. My uncle, her baby brother, is battling Parkinson's. I have watched their bond strengthen as their parents, aunts, uncles, spouses and lifelong family friends have passed.

In a very real, very human way, the Kennedys are simply a family. A family that has cast an enormous shadow across American life, to be sure, but a family, and Jean is the last one standing. Now, at 81, she has lost two of her siblings in the same month. Being the last of her parents' children must be bittersweet indeed for now she alone has all the memories.

My gratitude is with Ted Kennedy. My prayers are with her.