Reagan's Daughter Writes Essay About Dad

Kansas.com ^ | 12/4/03

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Ronald Reagan's daughter Patti Davis wants people to have a clear understanding of what Alzheimer's disease has done to the 92-year-old former president.

Davis wrote in an essay for the Dec. 15 edition of People magazine that she is often asked how her father is doing and whether he recognizes her.

"It makes me realize that my mother and I have been so protective of his condition since he became ill - almost a decade now - that it has allowed people to imagine he is still talking, still walking, still able to stumble into a moment of clarity. But it would be a disservice to every family who has an Alzheimer's victim in their embrace to say any of that is true, and I don't believe my father would want us to lie," she wrote.

Asked about the former president's condition Thursday, Reagan chief-of-staff Joanne Drake told The Associated Press, "He's the same. Nothing has changed. He's comfortable at home."

Former first lady Nancy Reagan indicated the extent of the disease's impact during a CBS "60 Minutes II" interview last year.

"The golden years are when you can sit back, hopefully, and exchange memories, and that's the worst part about this disease: there's nobody to exchange memories with ... and we had a lot of memories," she said.

[TrebleRebel]

It breaks my heart to think of this man, who has shaken hands with some of the most interesting and incredible historic figues of the 20th century, doesn't have the pleasure of sitting back and reminiscing about it. But then, he was never a man that loved to slap himself on the back.

[Az Joe]

Reagan is lionized and he can't even recognize himself in the mirror while clin-toon can't stop looking in the mirror and has become a punch line in any number of dirty jokes.

God does have a wicked sense of humor.

[VOA]

But then, he was never a man that loved to slap himself on the back.

IIRC, Reagan said something like "there's no limit to what a man can get done...
as long as he doesn't mind about who gets the credit".

[TrebleRebel]

Great thought...I'm filing that one away. Thanks.

[martin_fierro]

Good point!

[madprof98]

There will come a time--probably in the very near future--when it will be considered a matter of course for physicians to kill people in Reagan's condition. The ACLU will demand it as a basic human right.

[bluesagewoman]

I know what you mean. My sister is in final stage AD, and she is only 57. This, and the Shiavo case really hit close to home. Several people have mentioned to me over the years that it is cruel to let her live out her life as she is. It's only a matter of time before the right to life becomes the requirement to die.

[Free ThinkerNY]

GOD BLESS THIS GREAT MAN

[ConservativeMan55]

Prayers going up for him!

[Old Professer]

At 57? That's worrisome. Everyday, I do the Cryptoquote, the Jumble and the Scramlets puzzles in the newspaper and for the past 6 weeks my neighbor has been coming over every day to play Scrabble, he's determined to beat me on a regular basis (so far, he wins about one game in three).

At 63, I use this as my gauge of acuity; not much, but it works.

My grandmother was what we called senile in her last 5 years but she suffered two diagnosed strokes in the last two so we may have been confusing symptoms.

She died at 87 at her daughter's house after living with my parents and we two children from before I was born. She gave me my love of reading and the language becuse she was deprived of an education when she was a child and she wanted to see her children and grandchildren be better served.

I voted for Reagan for Governor his first office because he reminded me of my grandmother, strong and determined; I'll miss him, but I'll always respect him.

[NewRomeTacitus]

This matter of how to deal with the Alzheimers victims is strictly one of civilization. They, the mentally ill, the developmentally-challenged, and the people lost to addiction are what we pay taxes to alleviate. Short-changing those goals for pork-barrels helps no one but politicians and their sugar daddies. We have to keep a watch on these matters to insure the lesser-abled are also represented; because they can't and there's no profit in seeing justice done for them.