For days after Senator Ted Kennedy’s unexpected death, the television channels and newspapers were full of the Kennedy story – from his youthful indiscretions to his superb record of serving 47 years in the US Senate in the cause of disadvantaged. Unlike the Philippine Senate, the US Senate is sharply divided between the policies espoused by the Democrats and those of the Republicans. It was Senator Kennedy’s special talent that he could “reach across the aisle’’ and convince enough Republicans to go along with him, that he was able to champion social issues, including such liberal ideas as all children’s right to education, family leave, increasing the minimum wage, the American disability act. All in all, he managed to sponsor 2,500 pieces of legislation which all pertained to social issues, to improve the average American’s life. When he was unable to push through a national healthcare bill, he went back to his home state of Massachusetts and got a state health bill passed, so at least he saw to it that all his constituents had access to healthcare.

Kennedy was not unacquainted with major health problems. His son lost a leg to bone cancer. A daughter also suffered cancer. And the last year of his life he had brain cancer that he and everyone else knew would kill him. He also had a “shattered back’’ as one of his colleagues put it, from an airplane crash that gave him daily pain and an odd walk. But what stuck in his mind was that he could pay for medical care when there were so many Americans who could not.

The Kennedys were raised for “public service’’ by a religious mother and a father who believed that those who gain wealth should give back to society. And his two brothers, President John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy lives were cut short in pursuit of that cause. After their deaths, it was “Uncle Teddy’’ who fathered his nieces and nephews as well as his own children. He loved nothing better than to pile family and friends on his sailboat for a day’s outing from the family compound at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

In the many heartfelt eulogies voiced by his colleagues, fellow senators remembered his “glorious laugh’’ his sense of fun. Republican John McCain said “he was the most reliable, prepared, and persistent member of the Senate.’’ Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said Kennedy was the man he had “come to the Senate to fight,’’ but ended up with a strong relationship both political and personal. Vice President Joe Biden said “He renewed my faith in the possible’’ and noted that Kennedy’s lack of pettiness with people who disagreed with him, made others behave better. And when you talked to him one on one, “It was never about him. It was about you.’’ In short, whether political friend or foe “everybody liked him.’’

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown noted that while America mourned Kennedy as one of its greatest advocates of social justice, the rest of the world mourned him as a great internationalist.

He credited the fact that Northern Ireland is today at peace because of Kennedy’s participation, his vision and courage which helped break the long stalemate. “He was a massive force in bringing the factions together.’’ This year Queen Elizabeth awarded Kennedy an honorary British Knighthood.

Although he didn’t win universal healthcare for all Americans, Kennedy won the fight for children’s health with a nutrition program and children’s health insurance.

His guiding purpose, he said in one of his memorable speeches, was “to speak for those who have no voice, to remember those who are forgotten, respond to frustrations and fulfill the aspirations of all Americans seeking a better life.’’

A passionate believer in America’s potential, Kennedy’s ringing challenge will stay with all who heard him: “The dream shall never die.’’