My very longtime friend, Lindy Boggs came to New Orleans for Archbishop Hannan's funeral. She is now 95 years old and lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland and I had not seen her since October 2007.
She is a retired Congressman and Ambassador to the Holy See.
What inspires me so about her is not the politics. She has a strength of character that has helped her live through her husband's (Congressman Hale Boggs, D/LA) disappearance in 1972 in a plane over Alaska. His body was never found. She then ran for his seat and served for 18 years.
She retired from Congress to help care for her daughter, then Mayor of Princeton, New Jersey, who had melanoma. Shorly after her retirement, her daughter died. In 1992, President Bill Clinton asked her if she would serve as U. S. Ambassador to the Holy See (the Pope) and she accepted. She was almost 90 when her service ended in Rome.
She never missed a meeting, a speaking engagement or a dinner dance if she promised you she would be there. She is a southern lady in every sense of the word, polite, respectful and dedicated to her religion, her family, her country and her friends.