Remembering Russert

Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert passed away yesterday of an apparent heart attack at the age of 58. It really shocked me and reminded me dearly of my parents who are of the same age. Russert, like my father an Irish Catholic, wrote the bestsellers Big Russ and Me and Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons.

The book's talk of fathers (the first by Russert on his father) resonates with many (including this blogger) of a father who did whatever it took to support and raise his family. I, personally, did not always appreciate as a younger person what my dad did, but it shaped me into who I am today, and I couldn't be happier. My dad is a great man who gave of himself freely for his family, and that is something I will never forget.

Tim Russert will be missed in many political circles, but the stories of father and son will live on for generations. If that is his legacy, then Tim Russert is a better man. May the angels say to him upon his arrival to Heaven, "Cead Mile Failte."