The hope still lives on

Written in August 2009
By Donna J. Jodhan

Last week as I sat glued to my TV watching and following the funeral of the
late Senator Ted Kennedy, something in me was not just sad, but really sad.
When we were kids, my cousins used to cut out all of Senator Ted's pictures
from my mom's magazines and the newspapers and then paste them into scrap
books for me. As a matter of fact, they did this for all of the Kennedys.
At that time, I was not really able to see pictures but after I had my first
cornea transplant it was one of the first things that I did.

I remember so many years ago after I got my first cornea transplant, I raced
to my scrap books to look at all of my treasured photos and boy am I glad
that my cousins had so kindly done this for me. I spent so many hours
gazing at my favourite photos and I continued to follow the Kennedys as a
family along with so many others who were my favourites and heroes and ones
that I admired the most. I kept memories of all of their photos safely
tucked away in my mind and as I sat listening last Saturday to the Senator's
funeral, I managed to conjure up pictures of him in my mind. With precious
little sight left now, it was all that I could have done to keep me going
and remembering.

One could easily say that the Kennedy family has been burdened with a curse
but what impresses me most about this particular family is this; their
ability to keep on going despite the immense tragedies that have dogged them
over the years. Senator Ted in particular had to deal with so much; the
tragic loss of his brothers, having to deal with two of his children's
brushes with cancer, and his own errors in judgment which he has always
readily admitted. Yet for all of this, he never gave up smiling and his
quote "The hope lives on and the dream shall never die" will always live on
in my heart; and it's a quote that I would urge all blind and visually
impaired persons to keep close to theirs.

This Statesman managed to share his life not just with his family and the
rest of his country, but also with the rest of the world. He was a Father,
Seri Get father, step father, husband, brother, uncle, mentor, and friend.
A man of so many hats. Rest in peace Senator Ted. Thank you for sharing
your life with us.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a
terrific day and urging you, both sighted and blind, to go out there and
live your hopes and dreams.