Posted on 09/24/2002 3:27:01 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former first lady Nancy Reagan says in a interview to be broadcast Wednesday on CBS that she is no longer sure that her husband, ex-President Ronald Reagan, recognizes her because of the deterioration he has suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
In an interview with Mike Wallace to be shown CBS's "60 Minutes II," Mrs. Reagan says that life with the 91-year-old former president has become sad and lonely but that she and her sometimes estranged daughter Patti have reconciled and that her husband may sense that.
"The golden years are when you can sit back, hopefully, and exchange memories and that's the worst part about this disease: there's nobody to exchange memories with and ... we had a lot of memories," Mrs. Reagan said.
Mrs. Reagan said that her husband did not know they recently had their 50th wedding anniversary and Mrs. Reagan told Wallace, "I'd love to talk to him about it and there were times when I had to catch myself because I'd reach out and start to say, 'Honey remember when?"' Asked if he still recognized her, she said, "I don't know."
But she said she thinks her daughter might be right when she says that the former president senses that mother and daughter patched up their differences. "(Patti) thinks he has gotten a feeling of the two of us together and, as she says, his soul doesn't have Alzheimer's."
Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, revealed in 1994 that he had Alzheimer's. The disease caused him to fail to recognize old friends or even recall that he was president but for a while his physical robustness remained and he exercised by playing golf.
But he became more and more frail as time went by and had difficulty moving about in his home in the exclusive Bel-Air district of Los Angeles, where his second wife, Nancy, became his primary care giver.
Ah, yes. Isn't hindsight wonderful?
For starters, Hussein. After the Iran hostagetaking, Iran was the enemy. Hussein's war against the mullahs was in our interests at the time.
And, yes, the Afghans: the Soviets were trying to conquer Afghanistan. We opposed the Soviets.
Now, with the USSR out of the way, we're finally embarked on getting rid of the Arab dictators. I know, we should have done it then (morally if not realistically).
We have dealt with the most dangerous enemy at each point in the struggle. Reagan kept his eye on the Soviets as he should have. He met with success.
Now Bush can finish the job.
Split the difference and put him on BOTH.
There. How about it?
Great!
Reminds me of Winston Churchill regarding the naval budget of 1909: "The Admiralty wanted six ships, the House of Commons wanted four, so we compromised on eight."
"[Patti says] his soul doesn't have Alzheimer's."Well put.
A few months before his death, my father became incapable of recognizing my mother, his wife of 45 years, but - like Mrs. Reagan - she continued to speak to him and care for him. The folks at the nursing home told us that the last thing to go would be his hearing, so we kept talking to him, without really caring that he didn't understand who we were or what we were saying. I take some comfort in knowing that the last thing I said to him - the night before he died - was "I love you." I also treasure one of my mother's prized possessions: a photograph of my parents meeting and shaking hands with Mrs. Reagan in the White House. Having experienced this disease, I wish her all the best.
What he did do, which nobody disputes, was to supply the afghan jihadists with unprecedented levels of arms and training, and then turn his back on the entire country once the Soviets withdrew. Thus armed and motivated, the mujahadeen mutated into those same Taliban and Al Quada operatives who brought down the world trade center.
Viz. the Iran-Iraq war: Reagan did authorize the American military to share intelligence with the Iraqi miltary. Fair enough, I can understand that. What I don't understand is why he continued to authorize the export of military hardware and chemical and biological weapons to Iraq even after Senate hearings revealed that Saddam was gassing the Kurds.
Well, now the bill has come due and Bush has had to go in and clean up Reagan's mess, not once, but twice.
"Mt. Rushmore," my foot! His statue should be at ground zero as a warning to future American presidents not to arm and encourage Islamic jihadists!!!!
My mother still remembers her kids, but is fuzzy on the grandkids. She is getting to the stage where she is 'babbling', putting words together that don't make sense to us, though I guess in her mind she knows what she is trying to say. But the look on her face when she hears what she's saying makes me so sad. Frankly, I pray for God to take her painfully, peacefully, and soon.
My Mama has been doing that for two years now. She'll pack her suitcase then start looking for her purse. Then sometimes she'll start wrapping all the family pictures in newpaper so that she can take them 'back home' to the house she and Daddy lived in 21 yrs. ago! It is so sad to see, and I don't even see it that often! I live up in MA, and have younger children so it is hard to get away. She's in MS, but fortunately we have a wonderful lady who lives with her in her home and takes care of her. This woman is truly an ANGEL! The hospice care nurse comes once a week, and the aides come several times. This gives Mary some valuable time away from Mama. She gets every weekend off and one of my brothers or sisters goes to stay with Mama. There are 5 of them who are available and they just take turns. I just send some extra money to help pay for the caregiver since I can't be there and do my part. I have been down there a couple of times and spent a week with her while the caregiver was on a trip with her family. I frankly don't see how she does it, though I suspect Mama is much harder on her own children than she is with Mary. I hope so anyway!
I'm sure that the ATM's in Chicago and New York would get stuck with the bills half way out. Then they would claim that there was "something funny about those Reagans" or that "those Reagan bills are really blocking our money machines".
California ATM's would produce Reagan bills cleanly... unless you were in Sacramento...where your ATM would require an additional 3 months to produce a bill. (smack!)
Long live the Gipper... he changed my life for the better and nothing the RATS say will change that FACT!
The team that brought us back!
The team that ended tyranny for more than half of humanity!
General Secretary, you can end this thing by agreeing to cut your nuclear missile forces.
Well Madame Prime Minister... the General Secretary didn't listen!
Now he did!
Gorbachev and Reagan sign INF Treaty
Yeah Margaret, he signed it!
The team that tore down the wall (1987 cabinet photo)
Mr. Gorbachev...tear down this wall!
Thanks Mr. President!
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