A Daughter's Remembrance: The Gemstones of Our Years

MSNBC/Newsweek ^ | June 14, 2004 issue | Patti Davis

[hobson]

Between the playing of Hail to the Chief and this article I'm just one big tear.

[eddie willers]

It took me nearly four decades to allow my father his shadows, his reserve, to sit silently with him and not clamor for something more.

I too was four decades gone before becoming the prodigal son and making peace with my father.

It's a new type of peace and a new type of love that is hard to describe...so satisfying, and yet, so bittersweet that it was so long in coming.

It is a love that is as aching as that for your first sweetheart, but maybe even more desperate because, instead of a limitless future, you know that in this, there will be an ending.

Patti, thank you for this rememberance....and don't worry darling, you made it home.

[goodnesswins]

What a wonderful tribute to her father.....she calls him a "shy man" and that makes me think his introspective nature (often a trait of shy people) was part of the reason he could be the giant (in ideas and motivations) he was.

[mountaineer]

I heard the other day that Patti reconciled with her mother and father just a few months before he made the Alzheimers announcement in 1994.

[Gracey]

Thanks for sharing this, Howlin. It's been 10 years that she's had a reunion with her parents. Better late than not at all.

[Carolinamom]

Each of President Reagan's children have commented on his zone of privacy. He shared himself unselfishly w/so many, yet reserved a small part for selfhood too. Nancy probably came as close as anyone to sharing that zone.

[onyx]

I think he and Nancy were so close,
that death will not part them.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Mo1]

Time taught me to appreciate a distant father

He was never very far from you Patty ... It's just how his generation was. My mother was much the say way, not one for being big on hugging, but I always new she loved me and was never very far when I needed her.

I am happy you could figure it out before it was to late .. and Thank you for sharing him with the rest of the World.

We are all blessed to have had him in our lives

[altura]

Thanks, Howlin. That is beautiful indeed.

[Gator113]

Thanks.......she is very good. Dad would be very proud of her.

[maica]

Dont miss this article.

[feedback doctor]

Very touching. I have always had special thoughts for Patti. She's sort of like the prodigal child, but only in a way. Isn't funny how liberals generally produce children who are carbon copy robots of their own ideas, but conservatives produce kids that think freely for themselves, who generally come to realize the truth on their own.

We are going to be hearing more from Patti. We may not always agree with her, but I think she will be writing and speaking from the heart. If anyone can communicate with her, tell he her dad wants her to be true to her calling, but I bet she already knows that.

Gob bless you Patti, and all your family.

[Peach]

A daughter grows up and "gets it".

[nutmeg]

This is a wonderful article, IMO.

I agree, Howlin. Thanks so much for the ping.

[nutmeg]

ping

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[oyez]

A dark thief, it steals portions of a person, leaves remnants behind

I remember visiting my dad in his final months, hoping he would recognize me. When he did it only took a minute or so to zone out. There is no explaining that feeling of being in the picture one minute and gone the next..

[PGalt]

WOW! Outstanding! The love that connects us all.

[gonzo]

"Some hearts just die...
Some hearts just mend...
But some hearts
can fall in love, again..."

I'm glad she and her Dad became friends again...............FRegards

[gonzo]

"...When he did it only took a minute or so to zone out. There is no explaining that feeling of being in the picture one minute and gone the next..."

I know the feeling, amigo. I visited my Dad (he's 91) last winter four days in-a-row. He recognized me most times, but then, it was like a light switch being turned-off.

Stay well, pal.............FRegards