The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
“Come my friends, T’is not too late…”
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Ulysses)
In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy made note of the passing of the torch to a new generation. Each of us carries a torch that to some extent defines our purpose in our political life. My torch, lit by my predecessors, was to make the future right, e.g., to bring justice for the generations of children who will occupy this great state in the years ahead. Along with the torches borne by my colleagues and our incredible staff including our assistants, we did accomplish many things to improve the lives of those who follow.
I believed that government had the duty to increase children’s access to health care, enhance their educational resources, provide support to their families and protect the increasingly fragile environment they will inherit.
Unfortunately, it became necessary during my 16 years in the legislature to spend a great deal of that time shielding children from those who incessantly sought to weaken their protections, short change their opportunities and drain the resources they needed for support based on the callous premise that government had little or no role to play in their lives.
The glow from the political torch that was lit for me will neither be shedding light nor showing the way much longer. Its last embers though will ignite your torches. In your capable hands these fresh flames, each with a unique and distinct hue reflecting your own personal gifts, will shine more brightly and guide our state more adroitly in the years ahead. I know with certitude that you will ensure that the weakest of us are protected and that you will call out the best in all of us by the inspiration of your words and work.
The torches of justice that you hold will at times seem light, lifted by the progress you make in bringing about change for children now and in the future. Sometimes it will grow heavy, burdened by the bitter frustration of dealing with those who seem to take pernicious delight in thwarting progress.
In either case, stay strong. Don’t let go of your fierce flame until you too must light the torch of your successors. A day that will come upon you more rapidly than you can now imagine. Use your time wisely. Boldly and in your own unique style, light the way in common cause to lift the poorest and challenge the better off to carry out Tennyson’s exhortation, because it is never too late “to strive, to seek, and to find a newer and better world for the generations yet to come.”
