TRIBUTES

John Petty

I stopped in at Walgreen's this afternoon to pick up some medicine for my wife who had surgery. As I was picking up some snacks, I noticed that an older Hispanic man was looking me over, and looking at my t-shirt which I bought at the Democratic National Convention last summer.

He came over and said he thought he remembered seeing me on television - my three seconds of fame still has its effect!

"Did you see Kennedy?" he asked. 

I said yes, he gave a fine speech. 

Then he said, "He made it possible for me to come to this country and become a citizen of the United States."  The man started to tear up, his wife did as well, and so did I.  We shared our names and embraced.

Felipe and Rosa were originally from Mexico.  I don't know their story of how Senator Kennedy it possible for them to become citizens. Perhaps it was his work on immigration some years ago.  Felipe's English was excellent, and it seemed he'd been here for awhile. Multiply that story by several thousand times and you begin to get a feel for the impact of Senator Ted Kennedy.