Patti Davis: A Shared Father [Why Ronald Reagan Loved America and America Loved him back]

Newsweek ^ | June 5th, 2008 | Patti Davis

[The_Republican]

Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of my father's death. For anyone who has lost a loved one, those anniversaries are both sad and sweet. The sadness is obvious—you don't stop missing the person who has gone; you don't stop wishing you'd had one more year, one more day. The sweetness sneaks up on you. It comes in the form of memories, some of them long buried. But mostly it comes with the realization that nothing ever dismantled the love between you, even though many things seemed to along the way.

At this time of year in California, the jacaranda trees are blooming. On some streets, there is a canopy of purple above and a blanket of purple blossoms on the pavement below. Jasmine is also blooming; the soft perfume lingers in the air. If I didn't have a calendar, I would still know that this anniversary was upon us. Jacaranda and jasmine will always be the background palette of that time.

As similar as my experience is to anyone else's who has lost a parent, it is also different because my family lived in the public eye. Because the country grieved along with us when my father died. Because tomorrow at the Reagan Library, when my mother and I go to put white roses on my father's grave, there will be more people than usual there, all of them marking the occasion, too.

It seems valuable, I think, in these thorny political times, to remember why so many people mourned so deeply when Ronald Reagan died. It had nothing to do with politics, but rather with the quality of his character. It had to do with his goodness, his dignity—qualities that we as a nation are hungry for. We know we need leadership, but we also know we need compassion.

[proudmilitarymrs]

Re: your post at #12:

What a most moving tribute, you brought tears to my eyes, thank you.

mrs

[DoughtyOne]

Just what I need, to hear a person who never understood her dad tell me why he loved the United States and why the citizens of the United States loved him back.

[bushfamfan]

I still find it ironic Reagan’s two children with Nancy turned out so bad. Nice tribute to him, but you can tell her leftist politics is also there. At least she hasn’t turned it into a personal tirade against the current President like her lowlife brother has.

[Perfesser]

His politics and character are inseparable. The further one gets from Ronald Reagan’s politics, the further ones gets from character.

[donna]

President Reagan was prefect for the job:

“Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.”
- John Adams -

[SF Republican]

The further one gets from Ronald Reagan’s politics, the further ones gets from character. - I think if you completely drop his politics as if it never existed, his personal character would be the same.

[beckysueb]

This Commie lib shamed her Dad while he was President.