JK email encouraging public celebration of Teddy's life

[Luftmensch067]

Hello Luftmensch,

These are difficult days feeling the loss of Ted Kennedy, an unbelievable force in our lives and our politics -- the best Senator, the best advocate you could ever hope for, the best colleague, and the best person to stand by your side in the toughest of times. We all marvel at the way he faced the last challenge of his life with the same grace, courage, and determination with which he fought for the causes and principles he held so dear.

But we also remember Teddy for his love of life - and the way he always kept faith with his friends and even with people from Massachusetts he'd never met but whose lives he changed for the better.

And we have a chance to do that for Ted Kennedy today.

Today, throughout Boston, people will gather to pay tribute to the extraordinary life and accomplishments of Ted Kennedy. A motorcade bringing Ted from home on the Cape to Boston this afternoon will wind its way through the city. It would be a terrific tribute to all Ted has done for all of us to come out, line the route of the motorcade, and share how much Ted has meant to us, to our politics, to our nation.

All of the details can be found by visiting this page:

http://www.tedkennedy.org/pages/arrangements

I'll put the schedule below, and there's a map of the route on that page.

Thank you, and I hope you join me in Boston over these next days to celebrate a man who gave so much, taught so much, and forever will mean so much to all who loved him.


Sincerely,
John Kerry

PS: And here's the schedule:

Senator Kennedy will travel Route 3 North to Route 93 North into Boston. (Approximately 3:00 PM)

Senator Kennedy will exit at Government Center, and travel down Hanover Street into the North End, past St. Stephen's Church, where his mother Rose was baptized and her funeral mass celebrated.

Continuing down Hanover and crossing over the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, the park Senator Kennedy joined community leaders in creating that gives mothers and their children green space in the heart of the city. The park sits on the same land young Rose Fitzgerald enjoyed as a child.

Senator Kennedy will pass Faneuil Hall where Mayor Menino will ring the bell 47 times.

Continuing to Bowdoin Street, Senator Kennedy will pass 122 Bowdoin, where he opened his first office as an Assistant District Attorney and President Kennedy lived while running for Congress in 1946.

He'll pass the JFK Federal Building where his Boston office has stood for decades, and and then travel to Dorchester Street into South Boston and to the JFK Presidential Library.

People who wish to honor Senator Kennedy are urged to line the motorcade route at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, City Hall Plaza and the Boston Common, in front of the Statehouse on Park Street

Approx. 4 p.m. - The motorcade will arrive at the JFK Library.

The arrival is open to the press and to the public.

Senator Kennedy spent decades building the Library built for his beloved brother, President John Kennedy, into a national treasure as a place of debate on the issues important to the American people, and source of inspiration for future generations of public servants.

6 p.m.-11 p.m. - The Senator will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

The Senator will be joined throughout the day and night by a civilian honor guard of family, friends, and current and former staff.

He will also be joined by a military honor guard.

This is event is open to the public.