He had been in the room with Nancy, Ron, and Patti. They stood up to stand by the coffin after consulting with one another. Michael was not included. He finally stood up at his chair looking flustered. Escorted by the minister, Nancy, Ron, and Patti left--walking right past Michael without making eye contact or saying anything. They left separately with the minister escorting them out the door. Michael appeared to be going to leave in a different vehicle. Minutes later he came back into the room and stood at the casket alone.
It appeared that Michael was on the outside of this little family group looking in. The whole thing looked automatic as if this kind of group dynamic was fairly typical. I felt sorry for Michael.
I watched this twice on C-SPAN to see if what I thought I saw was actually the case. Very strange.
Michael gave a taped interview to Fox News a couple days ago. He and Ronald Reagan had a very good and special relationship. I am confident that the Reagan family is handling itself appropriately, and I don't think, for one instant, that the death of President Reagan has in any way opened an old wound in the family, or created any new one.
On another totally irrelevant note, my law school roommate is adopted and looks a helluva lot like his mother.
IMHO, it will be interesting to see if the interaction between the Reagan family and Michael looks a little more
"positive" at the funeral on Friday.