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.
I believe this is a gift of God to the surviving family. My paternal grandfather died in October 2002 at the age of 93. Other than athritis, he was healthy until 24 hours before his passing. His kidneys stopped working suddenly and his blood pressure dropped to the point where he was virtually unconscious. Just before he died, my dad says he became alert and said "take me Lord Jesus, take me." I personally think that God ushered those words as a witness to my father. His body was dying, but his spirit was quite alive.
President Reagan will go down in history as one of the worlds greatest leaders, ever. You can see the love the Reagans had for one another. Nancy Reagan is a lady of such grace and class. She loved her husband very much just as he loved her. We were so fortunate and blessed to have them as our "First Family" for eight years.
Bump for heart warming article.
Choking back tears again...thanks
bump
This was God's Gift to Nancy Reagan.
Yes it was. :^)
Wow. Thanks for posting this
I can't read this.
"The candle burns brightest at the end."
Beautifully said, rusty. You point to a great truth here. Thank you!
Welcome to Free Republic, and yes, you did good.
Oh, damn. This hurts so much to read through watery eyes, but I am so happy Ronnie is now with Jesus and free of the pain of Alzheimers.
I feel the same way; it was devastating when she put her head on that casket yesterday, but this is too much. Bless her heart.
Amazing things happen right before you die after lingering on for awhile. This was told to me by the hospice worker who took care of my Dad during his final days. And it all was true. Your skin gets better, wrinkles seem to disappear, your eyes get clearer and you get remarkable hearing abilities. And I do believe he recognized her. I've always had this theory about death. You know how people who have come back from death ALWAYS talk about a bright light? I believe that in the nanoseconds before you die your life is going backwards, (Sort of like "your life flashing before your eyes") and I believe your last memory is your first memory....birth. And that would explain the bright light.
You did perfect, and we're glad you're here.
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