I can't ever remember being too impressed by Patti Davis, and I think she's a bit long in the tooth for the Amy Fisher look; but the instant she reached for her mother's hand at the Monday service, my opinion of her went up about 1200%.
Posted on 06/07/2004 5:35:34 PM PDT by Howlin
I can't ever remember being too impressed by Patti Davis, and I think she's a bit long in the tooth for the Amy Fisher look; but the instant she reached for her mother's hand at the Monday service, my opinion of her went up about 1200%.
Bump.
Without meaning the slightest bit of disrespect to Patti and Ron Prescott (he's not Ron Jr.), I sometimes wonder why it's so surprising to so many that RWR had a "zone of privacy." Don't we all?
We each live isolated within our own skin and mind. Even with loved ones around us, we really make our journey through life alone. The tools we have to communicate with each other can never fully convey colors we, as indivudals, see; or experiences as we see and feel them; or vocal inflections exactly as we hear them.
The breadth and scope of our individual lives are unique only to ourselves, from the moment we're conceived to the moment we pass on.
Of course I know that most children go through a period when they feel estranged from their parents. It's part of the natural process of preparing to "leave the nest" and make one's own way in the world. And of course I know that this period is more difficult for some than others. But I still wonder what this yearning is to strip away every last shred of privacy a person has.
I believe the kids had needs that their parents didn't fulfill. That's the drawback of having famous, well-liked parents. Also, I recall RR's SS guy for the past 17 years say RR would wear them all out, even the most physically fit SS agents, he just had that much energy. My guess is it's a two-way street.
I agree that each of us has a separate place within and knowable only to God. Much as we may share ourselves with those we love best, that particular part of self belongs only to us.
I was home for lunch between 1:00pm and 2:00pm (Pacific time) and caught a bit of the conversation on CNN's Crossfire. It was exactly about this topic. Begala or somebody asked the panel of Reagan associates that question.
Ken Edelman, bless him, said that we do know the real RWR. He said we know people by what they do with their lives. He also said that the reason why so many people keep looking for the inner man is because they have a hard time believing that Reagan was exactly who he appeared to be. Unlike many politicians and other public figures, there was no mask with RWR, and there was no "real" man behind a mask. He said we know Ronald Reagan by the full scope of his life.
Ron Jr. said he spent a lifetime wondering why dad never told him he loved him. Then, ten years ago when he found out his dad has Alzheimer's, Ron Jr. took the initiative and hugged him and said he loved him and dad said right back without hesitation, "I love you, too."
Correctly with RR, what you see is what you get. Now Ron wishes he'd hugged his dad sooner.
Exactly.
I am tired of the "introspection game."
RWR was exactly the man as we knew him.
Patty and Ron were estranged from him
for their own selfish reasons.
They always came across as spoiled, defiant brats.
Maureen and Michael, were just the opposite,
and let me add this, I am sick to death of Michael
being described as his "adopted" son.
Michael embodies more of RWR than his "biological" son.
No, that was Michael who hugged him and told him he loved him.
Right, it was Michael, sorry about that. I'm not worthy.
Oh yes you are worthy.
It's hard to diegest all the news
this week, due to the saddness.
As someone whose entire professional career has been spent in public communications of one sort or another (mostly written), I never cease to be amazed at the degree to which each of us fills in the inevitable blanks in any relationship with our own assumptions. In the era in which RWR grew up, boys and men were expected to NOT be too emotionally demonstrative. In the era in which RWR's son grew up, we were all learning to be almost sloppily emotional nearly all the time. I can understand how his children could see that difference as a distance when it was really one of training.
I noticed the same thing.
I wanted to see more of Michael.
I understand that he stayed until
all had left so that he could
have his own private good-by.
I didn't see Jane Wyman.
Was she there?
I hope so.
That makes me feel really good.
I would agree some of their differences were generational, but there would have to have been a stubborness gene, too, to make him inflexible to change. Something like that. Hell, I'm old enough to know that.
There was an awkward moment when the minister had finished and the family group sat there almost seeming not to know what to do. After a couple of minutes, Patti asked her mother if she wanted to go up to the casket. So she and Nancy stood up, followed a heartbeat later by Ron. They went up to the casket first, followed in a few moments by Michael and his family.
They gathered around the casket, which is when those touching moments occurred with Nancy putting her cheek to the casket. The minister came over and put his arm around Mrs. Reagan, and she turned to him and said, "I can't believe it." (Amazing, isn't it, that one is NEVER really prepared for the death of a loved one, no matter how long they may have lingered with an illness.)
The two sons briefly stood at either end of the casket with their hands on it. Then Mrs. Reagan turned to her daughter, clearly in tears, and it seemed like she said, "Can we go now?" Or something close to that. (She seemed exhausted, and I had the feeling she didn't want people to see her break down.)
Shortly after that Mrs. Reagan's army escort (who I think was a major general, although I couldn't quite catch his full rank ensignia) gave her his arm, and she and her kids filed out, followed by the pall bearers and Maureen's widower and his fiance. Michael and his family stayed behind for awhile. They moved to the head of the casket with their hands on the field of stars.
His children appear to be teenagers. (But the boy's head is completely shaved, which I thought odd.) Michael spent some time talking to his daughter, seeming to be explaining something. Michael's son looked particularly devastated. Then they left, because they had to rejoin the motorcade.
Hope this little report gives you a full picture of what happened. :-)
Some stubbornness in both father and son probably. The usual thing in most families: the son wanting to grow into his own man, and the father disapproving of some things the son did. Anger that blossomed into estrangement. It's a story as old as time.
Thanks, Wolfstar. That was a very thorough and personal report.
You're welcome, Demkicker. Glad to oblige.
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