At the end of the 1980 Democratic presidential convention, Ted Kennedy delivered what’s become one of his most iconic speeches, referred to as The Dream Shall Never Die speech. It comes at the end of an improbable run in the democratic primary against a sitting president, which rarely happens. There was a lot going on in and around that speech, but as someone who loves political history, what stands out to me are not just the words he said at the end, but the way he said it.
For me a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end.
For all those whose cares have been our concern,
the work goes on,
the cause endures,
the hope still lives,
and the dream shall never die.
If you listen to the speech at the end, in each line he’s pausing for emphasis. I think about these ending words every time I cross a similar threshold, from one leg of a journey to the next.
As someone who has run for office multiple times (and loss) I understand what it feels like to get to the end of the road where you don’t quite reach your destination. You’ve come as far as you can go, but you know that your leg of the journey is complete.
You’ve been running on fumes for a while now, adrenaline, purpose, and maybe a little stubbornness. And then suddenly… it’s over. Even if it’s not the ending you imagined, your body starts to come down. Your soul catches up to your pace and reminds you: this was never sustainable.
It’s a gift really, this sense of relief mixed with disappointment, because it begins the restorative healing process. Now you can be still and start to recover.
There’s another line in this speech that I’m just now noticing, but one that resonates pretty deeply with me right now. It’s this one:
Someday, long after this convention, long after the signs come down and the crowds stop cheering, and the bands stop playing, may it be said of our campaign that we kept the faith.
May it be said of our party in 1980 that we found our faith again.
We found our faith again. What a journey that is. Here’s the thing, politically speaking at least, the party wondered in the wilderness for another dozen years before it reestablished it’s identity. What I’m saying is, it took a while. Along with a lot of soul searching and quite a bit of luck. And some could argue that it’s still a work in progress (as all things are).
It feels easy to lose our faith these days, in the future, ourselves, and each other. The hard part is doing the work of finding our faith again. Sometimes that takes trying something new, while also getting back to the basics. And sometimes, it’s just a matter of stepping away from the proverbial “rat race” in order to simply be a human with the people you care about.
This past week, life slowed me down enough to notice that.
It was the girl’s spring break and instead of traveling like we usually do we had a staycation. While my wife tested the waters with a new job, I spent much of the week one on one with the girls. I gave each one the opportunity to choose one thing they wanted to do for a day, and that became our daily activity. Sloane chose to go to Legoland, so we all trekked up to Legoland where we quickly realized… wow it’s been years since we’ve been here and now maybe we’ve outgrown it. That’s cool, at least she had fun.
Next, Olivia choose shopping at Perimeter Mall. She was so excited about spending money and buying new clothes, but hours later she left the mall with no purchases to show for her time. Still, we had fun and some of her sisters made purchases so it worked out for them.
London choose Urban Air and this time I got in on the fun. I raced in the bumper cars and did the obstacle course (falling down only once!). In a passing of the gaurd, I lost a rock climbing race to my daughter Riley even though the teenager working the rock climbing wall placed his bet that I would win because of my longer arms and legs. She was just too quick for me. After only a couple hours I was winded and tired, so I just sat and watched for the rest of the time. But again, they had a blast.
Finally, Riley chose to go to Six Flags. For this trip my wife and sister and law were able to join (the more the merrier right?!). I’d forgotten just how much walking was involved at theme parks (the last time we went to one was Disney World and that was nearly a decade ago). I also had forgotten how much I dislike roller coasters. I didn’t even get on the big bad ones (like Goliath). Instead, I called myself playing it safe with the “family” ones with Sloane since she was too small to ride the big rides. It turns out those will humble you too! Two out of three nearly took me out. I wasn’t ready!
But, as we sat around at the end eating our overpriced funnel cakes and pretzels I couldn’t help but smile. Sure, it was late and I was tired (and I still had to walk all the way to my van in the parking lot). Yet, this whole week had been one of deep relationship building with my girls. It’s what I wanted, so I prioritized the time, and look what I got out of it.
Sixteen years in, and we’re still building something pretty special with these girls. And every now and then, they remind me of something I forget too easily:
The future will come. But the present? That’s the gift.
It’s just nice to pause for a while and appreciate the beauty of this life as it develops.
Even if it’s still a work in progress.
SDW3
everyday fatherhood 