Reply #93: He was very much that

[DFW]

While his cancer was eating him away, he heard that there was a proposal to save money for Medicare by reducing the
amount covered by Medicare for outpatient chemotherapy from 95% to 85%. from his sickbed, he managed to arrange a
three-way conference call between the Clinton White House, Sen. Moynihan's office, and his bedroom. When everyone
was on the line, he explained in his weakened voice that if they did that, all they would do would be to force
low income Medicare chemotherapy patients to stay overnight, get the higher coverage, and cost the government a
bloody fortune. They listened. The proposal was abandoned.

When I was a kid, he used to take me up to the Capitol and hang with guys I only knew had an oddball first name,
which was always "Senator." It's hard to explain to a 5 year old kid that hanging around a room with Hubert Humphrey,
Jacob Javits, Everett Dirksen, etc. was a big deal. While I am more of a political junkie than an active player (a
little difficult from Central Europe), growing up with him put me in the thick of things before I ever knew it, and
it took me a while to figure out that the little dark-haired lady named Helen was not only a good family friend, but
a rather big deal in her own right.

He was always so very active and into things. When his two sons announced a double wedding with women from the two
countries he had fought against in World War II (Germany and Japan), he welcomed them and their families without a
second thought. The reason I didn't go into journalism myself is because his shoes were far too big to fill for the
likes of a mere mortal like me.

*on edit--sorry about the delay. I had to run between Brussels and Paris today, which was a mess due to that horrible
train crash on Monday. There is not only the time difference, but the fact that my whole week has been turned upside
down by the travel mess. I'm now finally on a Thalys train on the way back to Brussels. There is no rest for the weary.