[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S7126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     LETTING GO OF THE ONES WE LOVE

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, earlier today, Senator Leahy rose to pay 
tribute to his late mother, Alba Leahy, who passed away last month. It 
was a beautiful tribute, filled with memories about the love that his 
mother radiated throughout her life and about the people which that 
love nourished. I was moved by reading Senator Leahy's remarks. The 
memories he conveyed were so vivid because, some 14 years ago, I 
sustained a great loss. Upon two or three occasions, I attempted to 
make reference to that loss and give a tribute to my departed grandson.
  I came to this same Senate floor and gave a eulogy for my grandson, 
and it was a very difficult thing to do. And I know that Senator 
Leahy's remarks today were very hard for him to deliver.
  Letting go of those whom we love is one of the most trying 
experiences, if not the most trying experience, in human existence. But 
looking back over a road of 78 years, it seems to me that much of life 
is about the seemingly simple process of letting go. It begins early in 
our human experience, as we let go of the security of our mother's 
arms, our mother's lap, of our favorite toys--if we were fortunate 
enough to have any toys--of childhood friends, of the house in which we 
grew up, our favorite teachers, and the blissful security of being 
still a child.
  It continues throughout life, as we let go of our youth, as we watch 
our children grow up, as we watch them go away, as we say our final 
goodbyes to our parents and other loved ones, and at last we let go 
even of our own earthly existence to progress along the pathway to an 
unknown final destination.
  Somehow, although we spend our lives letting go and moving on, it 
never becomes any easier. The practice never seems to make perfect; 
never seems to ease the pain of all of the goodbyes. The best that we 
poor humans can do is to handle the letting go with a modicum of 
dignity, to soothe the outward signs of pain with ceremony and nourish 
the lingering void inside with the sustenance of memories.
  So, today Senator Leahy shared some of his precious memories with all 
of us here in the Senate. He had told his mother that he would deliver 
such a eulogy. At the time he talked about it with her, he thought that 
the time that eulogy would be expressed was perhaps some years away. 
But we have no way of knowing what another day will bring forth.
  He bade his wonderful mother a beautiful farewell. But, as with all 
farewells, things will forever be changed. There are relationships and 
rituals in the Leahy family often, but nothing will ever be quite the 
same anymore.
  As Senator Leahy and his family traverse the familiar but ever 
difficult process of letting go, my heart goes out to them. But, as he 
already knows, and as is so evident in his beautiful tribute to his 
mother's life, as they always do, the memories will never cease to 
sustain us.

     Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of joy,
     Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy;
     Which come, in the night-time of sorrow and care,
     And bring back the features that joy used to wear.

     Long, long, be my heart with such memories filled,
     Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled,
     You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will,
     But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.

  Mr. LEAHY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank my dear friend from West Virginia. 
I have been privileged to serve with him for now 22 years, and I 
daresay that everything I have learned about the rules and protocol of 
this body I have learned from him. But I have learned far more than 
that.
  I have learned from my good friend from West Virginia the special 
bond that Senators have. It really goes beyond party, or region, or 
anything else. And when my good friend from West Virginia, Senator 
Byrd, called me the weekend my mother died, when I was at my farmhouse 
in Vermont, his words touched me as a friend, as a Senator, as a 
colleague, and as one who knew my mother and knew my late father. His 
words were a great comfort to me and to my family at that time, as they 
are today.
  He is right. There are times, of course, when we have to let go in 
our lives. I know the great tragedy that the Senator from West Virginia 
had in his own life more than a decade ago--almost a decade and a half 
ago now. I recall sitting in his office on a rainy evening once when we 
talked of that great tragedy. I could understand, not from a parental 
or grandparental feeling, but more through my own experiences as a 
prosecutor. I grieved for him, and I know how much he has grieved over 
the years since then. But I think he found during that time, and since, 
that it is his own friends and the words and thoughts of those friends 
that helped him just as he helps me in this.

  So I do thank him for doing that. I told my good friend from West 
Virginia that among my mother's possessions were letters that he had 
sent her on different occasions--birthdays, and whatnot. Among the 
things she had collected were speeches of his in the Congressional 
Record and poems that he had spoken.
  He is the only person I have ever seen who is able to recite poetry 
of all types at great length with nary a note. She read those. And in 
the later years, when her eyes failed, I would read to her ``The 
History of the Senate.''
  So, my friend, thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, at the outset, I would like to add 
my sympathy and my condolences to my friend, Senator Pat Leahy. I would 
not have known but for the eloquence of the Senator from West Virginia. 
Certainly, I know that all of us join in our thoughts and prayers at a 
very sad time.
  (The remarks of Ms. Moseley-Braun pertaining to the introduction of 
S. 1911 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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