President Kennedy used his situation to address civil rights as a "moral issue." He said:

"It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?"

Senator Ted Kennedy provides us that same luxury on Health Care Reform. We would be guilty of treason to his cause if we didn't use this opportunity to forge ahead on Health Care, to fulfill his wish, and carry his words into fruition.

"Quality care shouldn’t depend on your financial resources, or the type of job you have, or the medical condition you face. Every American should be able to get the same treatment that U.S. senators are entitled to.

"This is the cause of my life. It is a key reason that I defied my illness last summer to speak at the Democratic convention in Denver—to support Barack Obama, but also to make sure, as I said, “that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American…will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege.” For four decades I have carried this cause—from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society. Now the issue has more meaning for me—and more urgency—than ever before. But it’s always been deeply personal, because the importance of health care has been a recurrent lesson throughout most of my 77 years."

I know not how best to carry this message to the people, that is why I am writing to you today. How do we make this happen? How do we fulfill the cause of the one who's spoken so well on our behalf before? How do we achieve universal health care?

Whether we use a hash tag of #rememberKennedy on every piece of HCR that we put on twitter, or whether it is something else that we can do... we must. For his sake, and for ours.

Skye J Coleman