What the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate means to my family.
BY Kara Kennedy 

Growing up in my family, public service was part of our everyday life. My father taught me and my siblings that we had a special obligation to help people because we were fortunate in so many ways. It was a value he inherited from his parents and that animated his extraordinary life of service, and one that continues to motivate me and my children today. As much as my father loved campaigning and a robust debate, he saw them as a means to a greater end. To him, politics was a tool for making a difference. He always dreamed of a center that would inspire the next generation of citizens and leaders to make a difference, too. That is why this Friday will be so meaningful for my family and for so many others who were touched by my father: We will be holding the groundbreaking ceremony in Boston for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a place he hoped would become the nation’s preeminent civics education center.

Members of the Kennedy family gathered with former staff members and elected officials on a blustery stretch of Boston’s oceanfront Friday to break ground on the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

The institute will feature a replica of the Senate chamber where the Massachusetts Democrat served for 47 years until his death from brain cancer in 2009. It will be located adjacent to John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in the city’s Dorchester section.

Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Kennedy, said it’s fitting that the two centers will be set next to each other, because it was John Kennedy who inspired his younger brother Edward’s enduring love of the Senate and public service.

After Senator Edward M. Kennedy died in August 2009, one of the most wrenching tasks for his wife, Vicki, was dismantling his office on Capitol Hill.

As much history museum as workspace, its family and political mementos included a letter hanging on the wall from a 14-year-old John F. Kennedy to his mother, Rose. In it, the future president asked if he could be godfather to the family’s final child, whom they would call “Teddy.”

Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, sat down for an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Claire Shipman at the new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate to talk about her late husband, his legacy and his impact on US politics.

(Source: )

(Source: likeadoll)

(Source: intersouls)