1911-2004
REST IN PEACE

“It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons...The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.” -- Ronald Reagan, 1986

I so remember my very first vote for President in 1980. It was on an absentee ballot (I was away at college) and I was grinning ear to ear the entire day!
When Ronald Reagan was elected it lifted my spirits and my optimism that held for quite a long time, even through the darkest times in my life (in 1988, when my marriage began its death throes). When it came to my country I always looked to President Reagan for inspiration and hope.
And now, he’s really gone. I think the country needed the ten years to prepare for this. I’m glad he wrote that letter about the “sunset” of his life and got us ready. I cried quite a few times when he published it, and I’m crying again now because he’s been called Home to where he is whole again.
Thank you, God, for sending us Ronald Wilson Reagan to be there and to lead us when we so needed it. Thank you, God, for giving him his oratorical gifts to help us with words of comfort and hope in times of tragedy. He will always live on in my heart and the hearts of millions not just here in America, but around the world. Thank God because of a man like President Reagan, we continue to be FREE.

“In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that day may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.” -- Ronald Reagan, 1994