BY LOREEN BERLIN: Funerals are an opportunity for friends, family and acquaintances, and those who admire from afar, to give a final "thank you" to those who have touched and enriched their lives in innumerable ways, as world leaders and well-known figures do.
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan, first lady from 1981 to 1989, was perhaps thought of as stern and dedicated.
She is also remembered for her beauty, elegance, poise and dignity.
What she managed to do, she did so with great dignity and grace;, much of it in the public eye.
BY LOREEN BERLIN: Funerals are an opportunity for friends, family and acquaintances, and those who admire from afar, to give a final "thank you" to those who have touched and enriched their lives in innumerable ways, as world leaders and well-known figures do.
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan, first lady from 1981 to 1989, was perhaps thought of as stern and dedicated.
She is also remembered for her beauty, elegance, poise and dignity.
What she managed to do, she did so with great dignity and grace;, much of it in the public eye.
She is the only first lady to have been with her husband as elected governor of California (1966) and then as president of the United States.
On the homefront, she was a stay-at-home mother with the couple’s two young children.
On a personal level, I was very touched when I heard Mrs. Reagan say that during a day, if she hadn't been able to spend time with her growing children because of varying schedules, she took time to hand-write them a note and slip it under their bedroom door, keeping in communication with each child.
That was something that touched my heart and I followed her lead with my own young son until he married.
President Ronald Reagan was considered a communicator, communicating with the people of America as well as foreign heads of state and dignitaries.
November 9, 2016, will mark the 27th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall heralding freedom and democracy in the former divided City of Berlin.
These were his words: “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
At the Reagan Library and Museum stands a large piece of that wall, donated for all to see.
A quote from history: "We pay tribute to Ronald Reagan, whose role in this historic event was truly heroic and today, countless people around the world enjoy greater freedom, more economic prosperity, and better lives as a result of his leadership."
I am one of those who has a small piece of that wall and I sat in West Berlin and enjoyed the beauty, peace and life in the sunshine that existed in West Berlin, staring into a blank East Berlin in the 1960s, also staying with a family in West Berlin, along the wall on a weekend, preparing to enter East Berlin to attend church there, when it was forbidden and people could lose their life daring to do so. I barely slept a wink that night, as the guards stood atop the wall kicked dirt pebbles to the street and our bus top during the day.
Thank you, Mr. President, for your speech that made such a difference.
The Reagans were a constant team — a true love story — that is unrivaled.
Nancy Reagan is remembered as a very devoted wife and mother and for her "Just Say No” campaign to discourage drug use. In a video by CNN, Mrs. Reagan tells how drugs rob children of a future and how it wreaks havoc on their lives, a spiral from which many don't return.
Five years ago, friend JoAn Burdick-Gottlieb (Las Vegas and Knott's Berry Farm fame), and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel by tour bus to the Reagan Museum and Library, a trip we will long-remember and cherish.
The Reagans remembered by Burdick-Gottlieb:
“Love is forever and the Reagans shared a love for 52 years that most envied. We Americans knew wherever she and President Reagan traveled, we could hold our heads high and know they would do what was right for our nation and the world."
The paragraph below is extremely meaningful to me, and I hope to those who may read it.
“What do you say about someone who gives your life meaning? What do you say about someone who's always there with support and understanding, someone who makes sacrifices so that your life will be easier and more successful? Well, what you say is that you love that person and treasure her. I simply can't imagine the last eight years without Nancy.” Ronald Reagan said that in 1988.
From Mrs. Reagan's office: "Not quite six years out of the White House, the Reagans were tested in ways they couldn't have imagined. She spent a decade as primary caregiver for her husband as he succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease, when eventually he could not recognizing the woman he had called 'Mommy.’”
His illness prompted Mrs. Reagan to seek more research on embryonic stem cells; work that scientists think could help find a cure for Alzheimer’s.
In Washington, Mrs. Reagan’s most prominent initiative as first lady was the 'Just Say No' drug-awareness campaign, aimed at preventing recreational drug use among young people. Later, she expanded the campaign globally and held a White House summit with 30 first ladies from around the world.
With the Reagans, the public seemed to embrace the return of style and glamour to the White House.
While in the White House, the residential quarters were observed to be in disrepair, and there wasn't enough matching China. Mrs. Reagan and her affluent friends raised $800,000 for renovations and $200,000 of new China, with no public money being spent.
Mrs. Reagan's wardrobe and jewelry were mostly loaned to her while in the White House; again, at no expense to the public.
Again, from her office: ”After the Reagans left the White House, they started the Nancy Reagan Foundation to support educational and drug-prevention after-school programs. After Ronald Reagan’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, the couple created and funded the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute in Chicago to study the illness.
"In her final years, Mrs. Reagan lived quietly in California, enjoying lunch with old friends and spending time advocating for stem cell research.
“We’ve had an extraordinary life, but the other side of the coin is that it makes it harder,” she wrote of her husband’s illness in 'I Love You, Ronnie,' a poignant collection of their love letters.
“There are so many memories that I can no longer share, which makes it very difficult. When it comes right down to it, you’re in it alone. Each day is different, and you get up, put one foot in front of the other, and go — and love, just love.”
