Posted on 06/09/2004 11:18:26 AM PDT by Wolfstar
For those who were unable to watch the coverage from Point Mugu Naval Air Station this morning as President Reagan and his family left California for Washington, former First Lady Nancy Reagan did something incredibly gracious and moving. She is, after all, an 82-year-old going through an extraordinarily difficult time. Everyone would have understood if she took one of the easier methods of boarding the plane.
Yet she chose to walk up that long flight of stairs. Then, when she got to the top, she turned and waved to the crowd. The crowd spontaneously broke out in very warm applause. (That's a major general escorting Mrs. Reagan. Look at the awe on his face.)
The purpose of this thread is to give all FReepers — those of us who are Ronald Reagan's foot soldiers for life — our warmest expressions of love, support and gratitude. I am going to the RWR library on Sunday and will personally hand-deliver a printout of this thread to them. All tributes received by the library are being saved for later presentation to Mrs. Reagan.
First of all, know that many, many Americans and freedom-lovers the world over are sharing your grief. All of us have lost a great leader and friend. Ronald Reagan was our friend, our example and our rock.
Nancy, thank you for the support you gave President Reagan throughout your marriage. You helped him... you helped us...
As Lincoln, your husband now belongs to the Ages. He will not be forgotten, but lives in our hearts and in all who strive for human dignity and liberty.
He was, and is, one of the Greats. So many Americans admire the man, his character and his vision.
The thoughts and prayers of my family are with you and your family. Thank you for sharing your husband with us. We love him.
Mrs. Reagan,
Your husband made my life, and the World, better. I know he could not have done it without a good woman like yourself backing him up.
Thank you, both of you, and may God bless.
John Rollinson
It was entirely my pleasure.
Please consider adding your comments to this tribute to Nancy Reagan. She's a great lady.
Dear Mrs. Reagan; The words "In Sickness and In Health" were some that you took to heart and never wavered from. God bless you for your sterling work in caring for your beloved husband for ten years. You fought the good fight. Colleen Dawson
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dear Mrs. Reagan:
As many have already said, and as many will no doubt say after me, the mark that your husband left not only on our nation but on the lives of so many of its citizens will never be forgotten.
I was very proud to cast my first presidential ballot for your husband in 1984 at the age of 19. And I'm even more proud to say that Ronald Reagan's legacy as a leader and as a gentleman will remain with me forever.
My children are growing up in a world forever altered by your husband's vision and determination. They are growing up in a land where so many Americans again feel pride in their heritage and are not ashamed, or afraid, of their nation's call to greatness.
His legacy is more than just successful and influential policy. It is more than victory, more even than winning the Cold War. It is about an entire generation of Americans learning anew that it's okay to be proud of your nation. He reminded us that it's all right to dream and we ought not be afraid to do it.
Your husband awakened this land and did it through the inner strength of every one of us. And in my own case I know I'll proudly teach his lessons to my own children and hold them to my heart forever.
In your time of profound sorrow, please know that your husband's followers, in their millions, grieve with you and pray for you and your family. We thank you for sharing him with us and count ourselves fortunate to have been led by such a magnificent man. His legacy lives on in each of us.
Dear Mrs. Reagan,
Your strength and courage is an inspiration to all. A coworker and I cried together today as we looked at photos that touchingly illustrated your love and devotion right to the very end.
We can only hope that the love that you shared and continue to share with President Reagan will encourage others to hang tough in their own relationships. May you gather continuing strength in the knowledge that President Reagan is wrapped in God's loving arms for eternity, patiently waiting until you two are together once again.
May God continue to bless you and your family abundantly,
dansangel and .45MAN
Thank you for taking such fine care of a man who I never met, but who nonetheless meant a great deal to me.
He was courageous, gallant and awe-inspiring, responding to the left in a manner prior to his presidency we had never before witnessed. The eight years of his tenure, as leader of the free world, were a thrill to behold. For the first time in my life, I was sorry (and tearfully sorry) to see a president leave office.
I have missed him terribly ever since, particularly these last ten years. It was comforting to know he was in the care of your good, kind and loving hands. Thank you.
Thank you also for sharing him with this nation. I will never forget how he inspired in us the idea we could conquer great evil, if only we believed and acted upon those beliefs.
You were as perseverent and brave while tending to him all throughout his illness, as he was when he tended to the affairs of our beloved America during his eight year reign as our most powerful leader. You have approached these ceremonial days as we remember him, with the same vigor and strength of spirit.
You are a tribute to your husband and the fine, decent and extraordinary man that he was. As they say behind every good man is a good woman, and in this case behind this GREAT man was a GREAT woman.
Witnessing the reaction of the nation to his passing, you now understand, he and you have been in our thoughts, hearts and prayers all during his long illness. We have not forgotten him nor WILL WE EVER FORGET our most beloved and special president, Ronald Wilson Reagan.
God Bless and keep you, as you mourn him in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Tough Stough
Thank you for your steadfast loving support of President Reagan through the years. Your love for the man who changed the world, and the love he returned to you in full measure, helped give history a personal feeling.
Thank you for safeguarding the President's privacy and dignity over the difficult years leading to his passing.
I am teaching my son about the President's legacy, particularly his victory over the evils of communism. The ideals of Ronald Reagan live on through the generations.
May God grant you His Strength and Love during this trying time in your life.
President Reagan will be remembered as the greatest president of the United States in well over one hundred years. He gave us hope when there was none, he reminded us that this truly is "that shinning city."
One day the two of you will once again hold each other in God's Great Heaven.
Until then, know that so many of us would love to put our arms around you and attempt to give you comfort as he would.
God Bless you, God Bless Ronald Reagan, and God Bless America.
Budge Rahe,
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Dearest First Lady Nancy,
"Your Ronnie," the greatest president of my lifetime,
and of the last century, in my opinion, is getting the
farewell he richly deserves and earned, from a grateful
but greiving nation that he loved, served and trusted.
He will be forever missed, but in my heart he lives,
and I think he will always live in the hearts of us
millions, --- yes millions,--- who adored, loved,
respected, and cherished him without having ever known
him personally.
You are his First Lady and you are ours too. Your
life together is a love story unmatched even in fairy
tales. I know that even death, will not part you from
"your Ronnie."
You're brave, courageous and grand. I love you too, dear
First Lady Nancy.
God speed and peace be with you and his children.
Tricia is onyx
I was proud to vote for Ronald Wilson Reagan for President, not once but twice. And more proud of the character and hope that you both brought to the White House. I can remember the terrible dread and darkness that epitomized the preceding administration, and the hope and promise that your arrival gave us.
In my humble opinion, President Reagan was the best President we ever had, and with you by his side, gave all of us something to be proud of once again. I've read his book, and will forever be impressed by his vision, courage and morality. It was for me, a sad day when the President left office, and when you left the capitol, it seems as if the city dimmed without your presence.
I always admired the way you stood beside the President, though the good times and the bad. I believe that you epitomize all that is great about this country, and I've said that here before. I know the President has gone to a far better place, and awaits the day you will be re-united forever.
We never forgot what the grace and integrity that you brought to America, and how brightly that city on the hill shined. May God bless you Mrs. Reagan, and may God bless America.
We will never, never forget.
Mrs. Reagan,
The Bible says "No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
You and President Reagan have done this. You put aside your plans, your privacy, and your time, to lay down your lives to serve us. For this we thank you.
You have been an inspiration to millions of us, with your devotion to your husband, your dignity and class in the office of First Lady, and your grace under fire. I know that you took many arrows when the critics couldn't get to the President.
I know how difficult it was for you to walk up the stairs of the airplane this morning. But I also know that you did it for your Ronnie.
Thank you for being an example of dignity for this country.... again. Thank you, again, for your service to this country. Thank you for sharing your husband with us when we so desperately needed him. Thank you for allowing us to grieve with you.
I pray God's richest Blessings on you and your family.
Grammy
Thank you for the dignity that you and the President showed every moment in the White House. I was fortunate enough to visit that hallowed building in early 1982, and I could feel the prescence of the greatness that the two of you had restored to that national monument. The whole nation had the chance to contrast your family's (and the Bush family's) dignified treatment of that building with something that came since your tenure there, and we can all be glad that the White House is in the hands of those who will honor it today.
May it always be so, as you and President Reagan showed this country the best that could be!
Nancy Reagan is an inspiration for all time. She is the epitome of compassion and love. I am so happy that she received these same precious gifts in return from the love of her life.
I hope Mrs. Reagan knows how much America and the world admired the President and that the generations to come will be grateful for his vision, his strength and what he accomplished for us.
We will always love them both.
Dear Mrs. Reagan, how proud we all are of your unfailing grace and poise at this time of personal and national anguish. Your love for President Reagan is so very evident, it's in every look, every smile, every tear. We cry with you and wish we could bear even one ounce of the pain and sorrow. We'd turn back time to the springtime of your lives together, when you were both young, and the enormous duties of the presidency were yet to come.
His vision, compelling presence, determination to protect America and free Eastern Europe and the rest of the world from the horrors of communism. He did what he set out to do. He lifted the country out of the doldrums, set the economy on fire, a fire that lights the world to this day. He did it all with grace, kindness, and that wonderful Irish smile. He knew you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar! He gave so much to the nation, to the world. We can never hope to repay the debt we owe him and you. Were it not for him, God knows what would have happened to us as a nation.
The President was magic. He became our father. Even after he left office and retired to California, the nation felt you were taking care of him, that he and you were both safe and sound and still there for us all. Alzheimer's...once again, the President and you shouldered that burden with ineffable grace. In doing so, you performed an enormous service for the nation. God has held your hand all these years, Mrs. Reagan, and He won't let you go. Now He's taken the President home and has him in His arms. You both have been in our hearts and prayers all these years, and still are.
We're so fortunate to have known you both all these years. God bless you and keep you. We will keep the faith and do all possible to steer the country's course where the President would have wished. He believed in every one of us, in our capacity to achieve great things individually and as a nation. He was touched by God, there's no other way to put it. And we who were fortunate enough to vote for him every chance we got, know full well the giant he was. He was one of the greatest presidents the country has ever had. History will remember his achievements, but we remember his smile and grace.
Thank you for this "ping"!
Thank you for this "ping"!
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