Edward Kennedy has brain cancer, and it at his age it would be easy to just say goodbye to friends and family and wait for death. But he is doing the exact opposite. He is not giving up. He is giving interviews saying “I don’t really plan to go away anytime soon”.
And one of the ways he uses to keep moving is to continue having a full agenda, and set concrete goals for the future:
“What has been essential to his recovery and motivation has been setting goals,” said Dr. Lawrence C. Horowitz, a former Kennedy staff member who has been overseeing his care.
The first goal the senator set after cancer surgery in June was to speak at the Democratic National Convention (he did, despite kidney stones); then he resolved to attend Mr. Obama’s inauguration (he did, though he had a seizure afterward).
“Now, his goal is to play a central role in health care reform,” Dr. Horowitz said. “That’s what keeps him going.”
That a fighter’s way of facing adversity.