Former President Ronald Reagan web and wife Nancy Davis are shown in a scene from their 1957 film 'Hellcats of the Navy' the only film they appeared in together.
Posted on 06/08/2004 6:11:10 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Pallbearers from all armed services carry Ronald Reagan's coffin from funeral home in Santa Monica, Calif., for trip 40 miles north to Simi Valley, where it lies in state in presidential library before trip to Washington tomorrow.
Nancy Reagan is consoled by Rev. Wenning after a brief private service with her family near the casket of former President Ronald Reagan before the public viewing period begins at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Monday, June 7, 2004. The remains will lie in repose through Tuesday evening. Ronald Reagan's fragile widow rested her head on her husband's flag-draped coffin and whispered, "I can't believe it" as she gave in to her grief.
Her tears flowed yesterday after she emerged for the first time since the former President's death to begin a week-long farewell.
And as Nancy Reagan publicly showed her heartbreak, details of her final private moment with the love of her life were revealed last night as one of deep sorrow and miraculous surprise.
The former First Lady believes her long-suffering husband recognized her when he stared into her eyes for an instant before taking his last breath, his daughter Patti Davis writes.
"It was the greatest gift he could have given me," the former First Lady told her family.
Sobbing, shaking and knowing death was imminent, she held her husband's hand about 1 p.m. Saturday as he inhaled deeply and opened his eyes for the first time in five days.
While most thought Alzheimer's disease had robbed former President Reagan of all his memory, the last look he gave his wife was one of deep acknowledgment, Davis writes for People magazine in its upcoming edition.
"At the last moment when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that had not opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague," Davis recalls. "They were clear and blue and full of life. If a death can be lovely, his was."
Davis and her brother Ron were standing next to their father's bed when the astonishing interchange between their parents took place.
"In his last moment he taught me that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls," Davis writes. "It was the last thing he could do to show my mother how entwined their souls are and it was everything."
The former President died just before Michael Reagan entered his father's room, but he said the look on Nancy Reagan's face revealed she had been given a gift even as she began to mourn her loss.
"His last earthy look was at his wife, his next look was at the face of God," Michael Reagan told People.
The Reagans' personal physician, Dr. John Hutton, could not rule out the possibility that Ronald Reagan recognized his wife of 52 years just before he died.
"Whereas one could not explain it on any medical or physiological terms, I think there must be something to this," Hutton said last night on MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann."
"It's something that if you believe in it, you should take great joy and happiness in your belief," he said, adding that such moments have more to do with "the belief of people and their faith."
While her husband's last look lessened the blow of his passing, all the world still witnessed Nancy Reagan's heartbreak as she rested her head on her husband's coffin in yesterday's ceremony at the Reagan Presidential Library in California.
As the tears she initially held back flowed, Davis, her once estranged daughter, took her into her arms.
"He's here," Davis appeared to say.
It was the emotional climax of the wrenching first day of public goodbyes to the 40th President.
Nancy Reagan's grace amid grief awed the mourners who streamed into the rotunda of the library to pay their respects.
"What a great wife," said Manuela Campos of Santa Monica, Calif. "She was totally devoted to him."
The first lap of the former President's state funeral - a journey that culminates with a service Friday at the National Cathedral in Washington, followed by burial back home in California - began just after dawn.
About 500 mourners, some clad in black, others with tears in their eyes, gathered in front of the Gates Kingsley & Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica.
They waited patiently behind barricades for Nancy Reagan's motorcade to arrive while TV mogul Merv Griffin and Reagan Foundation Chairman Frederick Ryan, asked by the former First Lady to serve as pallbearers, stood in front. Reagan's limousine pulled up at 9:30a.m., and she was greeted with loud applause.
Clad in black instead of her favorite red and wearing pearls, the first steps of the 82-year-old widow appeared unsteady, and Ron and Patti quickly came to help her. Their mom then insisted on stopping to look at the makeshift shrine of flowers, flags and jellybean jars that had sprung up in front of the mortuary.
At one point, she was handed one of the notes and a faint smile creased her face as she read it.
The Reagan clan did not linger long in the funeral home. A few minutes after they stepped outside, an honor guard carried the coffin to a waiting black hearse.
Nancy Reagan was escorted by Army Maj. Gen. Galen Jackman, who continued in that roll the rest of the day.
As she climbed inside her limo, she acknowledged the crowd with a wave that drew wild applause.
"Nancy is an amazing lady," said Kris Brahms of Van Nuys, Calif. "She knew how much the country loved him and admired him. To see her looking at all those flowers, you could tell it was a great comfort to her."
"It was very heartwarming to see Nancy respond to the crowds," added Rona Attwater of Santa Monica. "I'm so moved."
On the 40-mile drive north of Los Angeles to the library in Simi Valley, the hearse passed beneath an enormous American flag suspended by two fire department ladder trucks.
During the moving 15-minute service at the rotunda, Reagan stared at the coffin as Patti clutched her hand.
"Grant, Lord God, that our hearts will be deeply moved and touched by the wonderful memories of this very special human being," said the Rev. Michael Wenning of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church, near the Reagans' longtime home.
"Thank you for the partnership that he and Nancy had shared together, for the wonderful example that they had been to all of us in the nation," he added.
As she smoothed the flag on the coffin with her hands, Wenning and Ron Reagan took turns embracing her while the ex-President's son Michael, whom Reagan adopted with first wife, Jane Wyman, stood nearby.
"I'm the luckiest person on the face of this planet because he chose me to be a member of his family," Michael Reagan said later on his radio show.
When they were gone, a military guard of honor, comprising representatives of all the services, mounted a solemn watch at each corner of the platform bearing the coffin. Among the many who waited in line to say farewell was another actor-turned-politician, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and his wife, Maria Shriver.
Thanks for the post. It was very uplifting.
Inspiring and awesome.
The Reagans
They met in nineteen fifty one,
They wed in fifty-two.
He was the kindest loving man,
That Nancy ever knew.
She gave up acting to stay home,
As mother and as wife.
She stuck with Ronald, thick and thin,
They built a happy life.
Oh sure there were some trying times,
But they still had a plan.
Together they would face the world,
She stood beside her man.
With her support, he did become,
The best that he could be.
It was their strong relationship,
That made them strong, you see.
For all those years she held his hand,
Stayed by him till the end.
The greatest gift we have on earth,
Is having a true friend.
Conspiracy Guy 6/7/04
The Reagans
They met in nineteen fifty one,
They wed in fifty-two.
He was the kindest loving man,
That Nancy ever knew.
She gave up acting to stay home,
As mother and as wife.
She stuck with Ronald, thick and thin,
They built a happy life.
Oh sure there were some trying times,
But they still had a plan.
Together they would face the world,
She stood beside her man.
With her support, he did become,
The best that he could be.
It was their strong relationship,
That made them strong, you see.
For all those years she held his hand,
Stayed by him till the end.
The greatest gift we have on earth,
Is having a true friend.
Conspiracy Guy 6/7/04
I believe every word of it. The last words spoken between my Mom and I was when I said to my Mom, I love you Mom. Or so I thought. Mom got the last word in when I thought she was gone. She cracked her eyes open and said, "I love you to son".
There is God.
Sorry for the double post.
I needed to see this today, Kent, Thank you.
All the world needs to see these things, and remember just who this man was.
Okay, I thought the tears were done. I was wrong.
God bless Nancy Reagan. Her example of love for and devotion to her husband will serve as inspiration for generations to come.
BTTT
OK, you're here. I was about to ping you.
Former President Ronald Reagan web and wife Nancy Davis are shown in a scene from their 1957 film 'Hellcats of the Navy' the only film they appeared in together.
; )
I also believe it. My Father-in-law also had alzheimers and just before he died knew where he was and who his wife was. Perfectly lucid.
One last moment of clarity is not uncommon in the dying. It's the final important gift to the family, God-given.
Both my parents had such a clear-eyed episode, and it feels incredible to the living. It's unmistakable.
The hospice people ( angels in the flesh) told us this happens often at the very end.
Dutch rode to heaven on a raging river of thankful prayers.
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