After watching the private Reagan family viewing on CSPAN,
They showed Michael Reagan entering and giving his respects
ALL BY HIMSELF.
I don't know if that was because of schedule,or because of
some sort of estranged family problem......
Michael supposedly missed his father's last moments by only minutes... he got stuck in traffic...
Michael was at the library prayer service the entire time as one of a dozen family members and closest friends; he attended with his wife and two children. After Nancy spent her time next to the casket, Michael hung back to have a moment alone before exiting. Nothing strange about that...I did that at my grandmother's funeral, simply wanted a private moment even though the rest of my family was also present at the service.
I have noted a coolness on the part of the second Reagans toward Mike, or else there has been a reticence on his part to inject himself into their affairs and they've honored it or welcomed it. It makes me sad. He was adopted by Ron and Jane (Wyman) Reagan, who divorced while he was still pretty young. I read somewhere or heard him say on his radio show something that gave me the idea that this coolness existed, although Mike didn't put it that way. He said something about sitting on the curb waiting for his dad to come and visit him after the divorce, and some other things that gave the impression of distance.
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.
He had been in the room with Nancy, Ron, and Patti. They stood up to stand by the coffin after consulting with one another. Michael was not included. He finally stood up at his chair looking flustered. Escorted by the minister, Nancy, Ron, and Patti left--walking right past Michael without making eye contact or saying anything. They left separately with the minister escorting them out the door. Michael appeared to be going to leave in a different vehicle. Minutes later he came back into the room and stood at the casket alone.
It appeared that Michael was on the outside of this little family group looking in. The whole thing looked automatic as if this kind of group dynamic was fairly typical. I felt sorry for Michael.
I watched this twice on C-SPAN to see if what I thought I saw was actually the case. Very strange.
Nothing special. Apparently he was stuck in traffic and couldn't get there until an hour had passed.