Thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Kennedy

The news about Ted Kennedy's brain tumor hit all of us hard yesterday. I learned the news during the lunch of the Republican caucus, and we paused and said a prayer for Ted and his family.

I have worked closely with Ted on increasing funding for Pell Grants, which help low-income students afford college, but it is Ted's warmth and sense of humor that I appreciate most. After vigorous debates over policy, he inevitably would walk over to the Republican side and make a joke with whomever he was debating just moments before.

Ted always invites me to any event with the Irish Prime Minister or other Irish leaders. Aware of my mother's Irish heritage, he once asked me her full name and gave her a copy of a book his mother wrote, inscribed to "Patricia Roselene McGuigan Collins...."

And Ted loves Maine. He once told me that there is no better sailing in the world than Penobscot Bay.

My heart and prayers go out to Ted and his family as they battle this serious illness.