Tomorrow, a perfect storm of events will descend upon Boston. There’s a large Italian festival in the North End. The Red Sox are in town. Britney Spears is in town. Thousands of college students are converging upon the city along with their parents and all of their stuff. Tropical Storm Danny is expected to drop buckets of rain. And, there’s Ted Kennedy’s invitation-only funeral, which will be attended by virtually every elected official in the English-speaking world, including all five living Presidents.
Since my invitation to Ted’s funeral hasn’t yet arrived (ahem), I decided to go to the JFK Library today, to view Ted Kennedy’s flag-draped casket along with the thousands of other commoners. Because it has been my honor to have Ted Kennedy represent me in Washington. He was one of those rare politicians that actually did good things.
Viewing hours today were from 8am to 3pm, so I resolved to go early via the subway. I arrived at 8:30am to find a long but not overwhelming line. A line handler told us that it may take up to an hour to reach the library entrance. In fact, it was 75 minutes (still a bargain compared to the line that latecomers would face).
Line of mourners outside JFK Library, UMass Boston
I brought a newspaper to read. Other people talked and played on their phones. The constant stream of airplanes ascending into the sky from Logan Airport provided entertainment for all.
Members of the Kennedy family stood alongside the line to shake our hands. I shook hands with 4 gracious though minor Kennedys! All murmured “Thank you so much for coming,” and looked me straight in the eye with baleful solemness as they pressed my hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said. The only name I got was Kym Smith, who is Jean Kennedy’s adopted daughter from Vietnam and who has some startling ankle tattooes.
Kennedys Greeting Mourners (left and right)
Kennedys Greeting Mourners
And of course, the media was everywhere.
Media outside of JFK Library
It was exciting to finally reach the entrance.
Inside entrance of JFK Library
We filtered into a hallway towards the room where Ted Kennedy’s body lay in repose. A man informed us that no photographs were allowed in the room, so I took one last picture and tucked my camera away.
Nearing the casket
It’s hard to find words to describe how it felt to file past Ted Kennedy’s casket for that brief 90 seconds. Awe. Respect. Sadness. The Honor Guard stood to absolute attention, as immobile as wax. The room was absolutely silent despite the presense of a dozen media folks. Among the seated mourners, I looked for the widow Vicky Kennedy, but I didn’t see her.
Then, my slow walk past Kennedy’s casket was complete, and I was out of the room, and back outside in the cool sunshine of Friday morning.
