Posted on 06/08/2004 10:40:27 PM PDT by Joe Hadenuf
Based on an interview I just saw of Michael on Hannity, I can see why there might be some distance. He has clearly become born again, and was seeming to say to his siblings is that they should also become born again for their father, so he can enjoy all of his children in heaven.
My Mom was afflicted the same year as Mr. Reagan. She is still with us, and she is still "in there", I am sure. She tends to withdraw when we have large family gatherings, so, our times with Mom are usually when we are alone. My baby sis was there this weekend, actually, tending to Dad.
She went to the grocery, came in through the garage door, and began putting things away. Mom, raised up and said, "Jane, are you back now?" As she related this, and we dissolved in tears, I told her "this is a precious gift"...such is the life of families afflicted by this disease.
Agreed.She's lucky to have you.
She's told me that on numerous occasions, and I just tell her that we're lucky to have each other. I was barely out of college floundering and struggling on my own, and she took me in and gave me a warm bed to sleep in and homecooked meals. I thank her for those simple acts of kindness every chance I get.
You're very welcome. I had thought she had passed away several years ago too, I just never thought to look until after President Reagan had passed away.
I've had friends who referred to Reagan as the second father in their life.
Mr Reagan was so very impressive and was a great man. I feel good he is being celebrated regarding his life as well.
President Reagan was one who's actions were powerful a righteous.
I'm buying every magazine I can get my hands on that have tributes to that wonderful man !!!
Maybe RR's biggest legacy will be that they will all be one in the Savior.
The impression I formed of the two Reagan families is that something somewhere in the new family was not so welcoming of little Mike as it could have been, but that he was grateful for every single ounce of affection, love, time and attention he received from his adoptive father -- before and after the divorce. I am the least favorite of my father's four children; I look too much like my mother, his divorced first wife; perhaps that is why I picked up on this distinction. It's a very painful thing to a child, and in my opinion, absolutely unnecessary, for the child is never at fault for it. Mike certainly turned out well regardless, and his gratitude is very winsome.
Please check with your local funeral homes to see if they have a guest book for you to sign. Some of them are doing this out of respect for the Reagan family and the people who can't attend any of the memorials. Just call and ask them and maybe even ask them if they would do it.
We have a friend that owns a funeral home and they are doing it here. Also I think the local churches all over the country are going to ring their bells all at the same time after the funeral on Friday. Please ask your church if they are participating in this.
If you all don't mind please pass on this message for everyone to check it out.
They were such a great couple and lots of fun to be around .. always full of smiles and laughs
Wow, unbelievable, but how lovely that they departed together.
That doesn't necessarily point to an estrangement. When my sister died, at the end of the viewing I waited a minute for everyone else to leave so I could have a moment of total privacy with her. When Michael did that with his dad I was so overcome with emotion. I went through this recently with my sister so I empathize with them a lot.
Michael was there during the private ceremony. He was standing at one end of the casket, and Ron was standing at the other end.
"'It is unbelievable what I am seeing on TV,'" Drake quoted the former first lady as saying. "'The outpouring of love for my husband is incredible.'"
Duke Blackwood, the library's executive director, said that at the conclusion of the national funeral, the bells of the National Cathedral will ring 40 times and churches nationwide will join in.
Contact your churches everyone to make sure they join in too.
Poor Michael, that is just awful. Does anyone know if he still has his radio show? I used to listen to it all the time but the radio station yanked it and put the Larry Elders show on instead.
She did an interview a few years back. She seemed VERY involved in his care. What do you do with yourself, after years of constant caretaking, when that person leaves? It isn't like raising a child, who gradually pulls away, and then leaves home. One day he was there, needing her, and the next, just gone.
God Bless her. I can't imagine where the strength comes from.
She was a nurse's aide before she got into acting, IIRC.
ROBERTSON: One oblique question. I read that the reason that you and Franklin Roosevelt were so tremendously popular is because you gave the American people hope. Looking down the road, what cause do you have for hope?
REAGAN: Well, I'm an eternal optimist, I know. But, I can't help but have hope. Just a few years ago we were seeing our streets torn up with rioting and demonstrations of various kinds, but we also were seeing a lack of hope. We were hearing talk about that we were no longer a nation of growth and so forth. That we must begin to limit ourselves in our expectations. And our government itself was telling that to the people.
Here today in these few short years, double-digit inflation is down to less than 4 percent and still on its way down. The prime rate had reached 21.5 percent, and it is down to less than a half of that now, and still I believe rates are going down. In the last 33 months we have created 8 million new jobs. The highest percentage of the labor pool is employed now than has ever been employed before in our
history. And the growth and the recovery have been the greatest that we have known in any recovery from any previous recession or depression.
But even more than that, there is something out there, you get out on the road and talk to the people, there is a spirit, our young people who once were totally disillusioned with government and so forth over the Vietnam War, the resurgence of patriotism among them. And now with our volunteer military, no longer having to have a draft, I don't know of anything I'm more proud of than our young men and women in uniform and their spirit.
ROBERTSON: I ask you a question for the women viewers in our audience. You've just gone through a very critical medical problem, and we know how close you and your wife Nancy are, it's almost a fabled love affair, better than Hollywood could do it, what was her reaction? How did she handle this crisis?
REAGAN: Well, she is very courageous. And once upon a time, when much younger, she was a nurse's aide. But she also is a very great worrier, and let me put this way, I've recovered quicker than she did.
ROBERTSON: Well, it was a terrible crisis. This is the second one. Some of your very close friends from California have gone back into private enterprise, or gone back home, are you turning more to your wife for counsel? She's a very wise lady.
REAGAN: We've always talked over everything together. I couldn't imagine it being otherwise. But as to the people leaving the administration, I've expected that. I had eight years' experience in California. And I made it plain from the beginning that these people, I would take them, even if it was only for a year or two years, and then find someone else if they, and when they had to return to their own careers.
And I think it should be that way. I wanted people in government that didn't really want a job in government, but that were willing to come and serve rather than those who were seeking government jobs. And the result is that they will have to go back to their own careers sooner or later. But, no, Nancy and I, we don't have any secrets from each other.
ROBERTSON: Mr. President, thank you so much. This has been wonderful. God bless you.
REAGAN: Well, thank you very much, and in saying that, let me tell you when you asked about the future and why I was optimistic, I am convinced this is a nation under God. And as long as we recognize that and believe that, I think He'll help us.
ROBERTSON: There's no question about it. That's the greatest cause for optimism I know of. Thank you very much, sir.
REAGAN: Thank you.
He's got a guest host right now although Michael should be back on the microphone before long.
Thanks for that info. But I was actually talking about the loss of routine, chores, things which have filled her life for these last years. I hope that once all the ceremonies pass, she doesn't feel herself at loose ends, with nothing of importance left to do. How sad would that be?
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