Ted Kennedy Was Surrounded by Crying, Praying Family
embers of the Kennedy clan were summoned to the family's compound in Hyannis Port Tuesday night to say tearful farewells to the man remembered today as an icon of American politics but known to them as Uncle Teddy.
In keeping with a family tradition, they gathered around the bed of Sen. Ted Kennedy to pray.
The Rev. Patrick Tarrant, who was present with the family during those final hours, said he was impressed by Kennedy's spirituality and faith in his last moments.
The priest said family members were crying and that in his final moments Kennedy was "a man of quiet prayer."
"The truth is, he had expressed to his family that he did want to go," Tarrant told WCVB, ABC News' Boston affiliate. "He did want to go to heaven. He did want to die... He was ready to go.
"There was a certain amount peace -- a lot of peace, actually -- in the family get-together last night. I couldn't help but think that the world doesn't know that part of the senator at all," Tarrant said.
He said Kennedy's wife Vicki, his children and other family members were there.
"They were there and they were very prayerful and reverent and of course, crying," Tarrant said. "Of course they were aware that the very sick, the sense of hearing is the last thing to go. So, whatever is said around the sick bed is always heard by the patient ... and they were very well aware of it. They let him know how much he was loved and cared for and missed. It was quite an experience, for me."
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