May 21, 2008 5:07 pm US/Eastern
Kennedy News Hits Home For Radio Host's Wife
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
When she saw live television coverage of his constant companions Sunny and Splash greeting Senator Kennedy as he left Mass General, Mary Jo Griffin thought of her late husband Paul Sullivan's last show on WBZ Radio. "I watched this morning, how his dogs were, and that was the topic of conversation when he called into Paul."
The popular evening talk show host, teacher and political columnist heard a bark that night and asked the Senator, "Who's that? That's not Dick Cheney, it it?"
Senator Kennedy answered, "That's my dog Splash," speaking of one of the Portuguese water dogs who divide their time between the Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport and the Senator's Washington offices.
Mary Jo Griffin, now director of the Paul Sullivan Leadership Institute at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, found herself in a position similar to the one Senator Kennedy's wife Victoria now faces.
Paul had a seizure while driving to work in November 2004 and, after several surgeries at Mass General to remove brain tumors, died from Melanoma last September. "We actually lived next door to them on Marlborough Street last year and Paul ran into Vicki a couple of times on Marlborough Street last year and she always put her arms around him. So I'm sure he would do the same for her," said Griffin, fighting back tears.
Vicki and the Senator often called and sent handwritten notes to Paul Sullivan and his wife offering thoughts, prayers and help...which Mary Jo now offers in return. "He's the strong one. He's out front fighting this. She has to do it in a more silent way; but I know that she'll be strong enough because of her love for him and I can relate to that."
I asked Mary Jo Griffin what sort of show she thought her late husband would have done tonight about Senator Kennedy. She said she thinks it would probably be sentimental and include lots of good milestones and good stories Paul would have remembered off the top of his head.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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