Senator Edward M. Kennedy died today at age 77 after battling a brain tumor.  He was at home in Hyannis Port.  A heartbroken President Obama referred to Senator Kennedy as his friend who had the gift of time to say thank you and farewell to his friends and family.  It was a gift his fallen brothers John and Robert, did not get.  They did not get that kind of time, both assasinated, neither getting-that one last thing.   

At the end of each newscast during our new time of 11pm, we have a final story we call, One Last Thing.  I  call it, in typical text style, OLT.  Do you have an OLT?  In your life?  On your daily,”to-do”  list?  On your bucket list (before you kick the bucket, these things you must do)?  Senator Kennedy battled his brain tumor for a about a year.  He got to make some monumental political stands, continue his civil rights battles, help make history, cross partisan aisles in the Senate to legislate and leave a legacy that has a nation mourning his death and flying flags at half staff.   

Do you think you will have the gift of time to have OLT?  Time is not always given.  John F. Kennedy didn’t get it.  Neither did Robert F. Kennedy.  And we all know people in our own lives who are not afforded that gift either.  The next time you watch our newscast and hear us say, One Last Thing before we go tonight, just think about your own OLT you’d like to do before you go to sleep.  It may not be a big thing.  It doesn’t have to be.  It could be a simple kiss on your child’s cheek.  An amends.  A thank you.  An apology.  A phone call to a friend.  Completing a task.  Completing, anything. Time with someone who needs your undivided attention.  Attention to detail, just once.  Thinking, rather than rushing to do, just to do.  Thinking of time, not money.  Pursuing a cause, not just cash.  OLT.  The gift of time is just that-a gift.  Don’t forget that.