Along the impossibly quaint Main Street of this Cape Cod village, shop windows carried signs Wednesday reading “Thanks Ted, We Miss You,” and salesclerks concluded purchases by clutching the hands of teary-eyed customers.
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Residents clustered on the town common trading tales of a beloved figure who, had death not claimed him, they said, would have been out on his 50-foot schooner, the Mya, savoring a perfect summer day.
At Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop, Mike Lyons made sure his daily list of instructions for his crew included “Directions to Compound,” because he knew people would want to pay their respects to the family of Sen. Edward Kennedy.
“We’re all talking about it, even the young people,” said Lyons, 53. “He was a genuine part of the community. … He went to our church, sat in the front pew.”
The ripples of reaction encompassed not just the passing of the third-longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, but the scion of a Massachusetts political dynasty.
“When I got out of the service, the first guy I ever voted for was President (John) Kennedy,” said Sam Ricker, 73, a cook at Hot Diggity Dogs. Although he sometimes disagreed with the senator’s political positions, Ricker said he carried his loyalty into 40-plus years of votes for Sen. Ted Kennedy.
One reason was respect. Kennedy fought hard in Washington, D.C., on behalf of his state, he said. Another was a local tie: “He was a Capie,” said Ricker. “He loved this place.”
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