In 1973, Kennedy's son, Teddy Jr., had his leg amputated at 12 years old because of bone cancer. Most of the pictures shot afterward showed the pre-teen on crutches with a distraught look on his face. But after the family arrived home from the hospital, Dad was the person the family asked to do a private photo shoot showing how Teddy Jr. would prevail and live a happy life.
I tend to think of this photo as one that shows more than just the strength of a young boy.
Dad and Senator Kennedy were friends. Over the decades that they worked together, they didn't meet eye to eye politically, but they were both hard workers who respected one another. I look at this photo (shown below) and see the strong relationship my father had with the people he worked with and the trust they had in him. For many years, the photo hung in our home, reminding me of perseverance, good work, humility, and friendship. Dad never made a big deal about his photos or the stories he covered, but his strong work ethic and friendships resonated strongly and clearly then and still do today.
Now, Senator Ted Kennedy lies alongside his brothers - and a stone's throw from my father - in Arlington National Cemetary. Kennedy's funeral was attended by hundreds who remembered the man known as the gruff lion in the Senate and the warm-hearted lamb among friends and family. Here are some words from Teddy Jr.'s eulogy about his father, and the day that forever changed his life and attitude.
"He was not perfect, far from it. But my father believed in redemption and he never surrendered. Never stopped trying to right wrongs, be they the results of his own failings or of ours. But today I'm simply compelled to remember Ted Kennedy as my father and my best friend.
When I was 12 years old I was diagnosed with bone cancer and a few months after I lost my leg, there was a heavy snowfall over my childhood home outside of Washington D.C. My father went to the garage to get the old Flexible Flyer and asked me if I wanted to go sledding down the steep driveway. And I was trying to get used to my new artificial leg and the hill was covered with ice and snow and it wasn't easy for me to walk. And the hill was very slick and as I struggled to walk, I slipped and I fell on the ice and I started to cry and I said "I can't do this." I said, "I'll never be able to climb that hill." And he lifted me in his strong, gentle arms and said something I'll never forget. He said "I know you'll do it, there is nothing you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day."
Sure enough, he held me around my waist and we slowly made it to the top, and, you know, at age 12 losing a leg pretty much seems like the end of the world, but as I climbed onto his back and we flew down the hill that day I knew he was right. I knew I was going to be OK.
You see, my father taught me that even our most profound losses are survivable and it is what we do with that loss, our ability to transform it into a positive event, that is one of my father's greatest lessons. He taught me that nothing is impossible."
Edward Kennedy Jr., rides on his father's back, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., as they sled down the hill in the front yard of their home on Monday Dec. 26, 1973 in McLean, Va. (AP Photo/John Duricka)