U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy's mother, Joan Bennett Kennedy, says her son is still upset over his father's death, and she believes Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's death played a role in her son's decision to leave the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the Boston Herald.

"It was very tough," Joan Bennett Kennedy told the Herald. "I think that had something to do with him not wanting to stay in the House of Representatives. I think he would like to have the personal time."

Patrick Kennedy announced in February that he would not seek a ninth term in Congress. He has said he made his decision during the holidays.

In a February interview with The Journal's John E. Mulligan, Kennedy said the time he spent with his father during his illness helped awaken him to the possibility of a life away from the demands of Congress, a life with more time for himself and family members.

"I had never spent so much time uninterrupted with my father and my brother and my sister," Kennedy told Mulligan. He said the time spent with his family deepened his relationships in "a really meaningful way."

Joan Bennett Kennedy told the Herald that her son was in a good mood when she last saw him on Valentine's Day, but still adapting to the loss of his father. He brought her chocolate and roses.

Kennedy had told Mulligan that he got into politics so he could spend more time with his family. In eulogizing his father, he recalled how as a boy he had basked in the attention from this father, attention that was too rare because of the demands of Ted Kennedy's public life.

According to the Herald, Joan Bennett Kennedy declined to directly comment on an emotional speech her son delivered this week criticizing the U.S. policy in Afghanistan and the role of the press.