Karma and Ted Kennedy’s Death: A Personal Perspective

Unless you live under a rock or in a cave you have probably heard of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy's passing early this morning. I can't say that I'm at all surprised at some of the reactions and comments I've seen and heard regarding this news. Surprised or not I'm still disgusted and even personally offended by them, not because of my opinion of Senator Kennedy but because of the utter disregard with which these comments are thrown around.

Most of these comments refer to the Chappaquiddick incident of 1969. For those who do not know, although I can't imagine there are many left by now who don't, Ted Kennedy was involved in an automobile accident that resulted in the death of 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, a woman who had worked on his brother Robert's presidential campaign the previous year. Kennedy drove off a bridge into the Poucha Pond inlet and managed to escape the vehicle, but Ms. Kopechne perished in the submerged car. The accident was not reported by Kennedy until the next day, after Ms. Kopechne's body had been found. Kennedy subsequently pled guilty to leaving the scene of an injury accident and received a two-month suspended sentence.

"Delayed justice" and "he got what he deserved" are familiar comments peppered throughout articles and blogs today. The death of Mary Jo Kopechne was undoubtedly nothing less than tragic and, according to statements by rescue workers, possibly avoidable. But to those who think Senator Kennedy's death was justice for Mary Jo Kopechne's, I ask this: For what incident will your death be considered justice?

Not a single one of us will escape what you are proclaiming as justice. You and I and everyone we know now and will come to know in the future, will all die. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of us will not die after a lifetime as a successful politician from one of the most famous families in American history, but rather after a lifetime of back-breaking or brain-busting 40 plus hour weeks struggling to make ends meet, if in fact we are lucky enough to get a full lifetime.

That brings me to my personal interest in this story, because I wouldn't bother to stay up late and write this tonight, depriving myself of sleep on a night before I have to wake early to an alarm and work some eight or nine hours, if I didn't have a personal investment in the death of a man I didn't even remotely know.

Consider the story of a woman who faces terminal cancer at the age of 41. She was born and raised in a small middle-America town by parents who worked hard to make sure she and her two sisters had all the necessities as well as some extras for enjoyment. She applied herself and earned good grades, graduating high school with honors. She married and had children young, but still attended college bit by bit, graduating summa cum laude, "with highest honor," and a BS degree in accounting at the age of 37.

This woman and her husband worked hard to give their two children everything they needed and extras that they wanted, much like her parents had done for her. Like many average everyday parents, she more often than not put her own wants aside for the wants and needs of her family. She wasn't flawless in her endeavors (though who is?) but she was never implicated in someone else's death.

Today this woman faces her own mortality as she takes ongoing chemotherapy treatments to hold her cancer at bay for as long as possible. Today this woman spends an inordinate amount of time researching stage IV breast cancer with liver metastases, searching for specialized treatments that may grant her more time. Today this woman hopes she will be lucky enough to see her youngest daughter graduate high school in two years.

If Ted Kennedy's death from cancer at the age of 77 is somehow payback for the Chappaquiddick incident, then what exactly did this woman do to deserve terminal cancer at the age of 41? Be careful how you answer, because this woman is one of my two older sisters. But she could easily be your sister, or your mother, your aunt, your daughter, your best friend, or even you.

If you are going to assign Senator Kennedy's death a karmic price tag, then it stands to reason that you have to assign every death the same.

You don't have to join those who are mourning the passing of Ted Kennedy. You aren't required to suddenly like him, or even attempt to find something kind to say about him. But before you open your mouth to speak or move your fingers to type, consider your words and refrain from insensitive comments. If you can't fathom it as being out of respect for him or his family, at least do it out of respect for mine and the roughly 566,000 families who will this year face what the Kennedy family is facing today.