It was a balmy summer day in 2008. U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha was in Somerset County to attend yet another ceremony where he announced funding he had helped come this way for yet another project. I had met the Congressman before on a couple of occasions, but this was the first time I got a glimpse of the man behind the suit. We stood side-by-side for awhile after the announcements and the congratulations. It was his 16-year-old granddaughter, Anne, he wanted to talk about. She was learning to drive. She was doing very well, he said. She was a good girl, he said. With a smile and a twinkle in his eyes, he added he didn’t believe he was in peril, because she soon would be driving him back to his Johnstown office. No matter what his politics, the man had kind eyes. And that day, at that moment, all he was seeing was his granddaughter. I liked the man. I wish I would have known him better. We always think there is time. Time fools us.
Judy D.J. Ellich
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