Reply #84: I think you're correct. It did finally hit Nancy at that moment, that she [View All]

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was finally going to have to leave him, for good. And I think she was trying not to think about it. I doubt it was acting at that moment. That was a real moment. The rest of it, leading up to that moment WAS acting. It was CERTAINLY acting for her to remain stoic and dry-eyed all week long.

It WAS sad. I admit it. I was really touched. I actually cried - during Patty's speech and ESPECIALLY during Ron Junior's. But not Michael's - it was too sanctimonious, as expected. Didn't move me. But the other two did. And then I thought I was over it. Until they took Nancy to the coffin for the last time. And then I cried again. And, by the way, I too was very uncomfortable with all the camera clickings. It really felt intrusive. I remember saying to my husband - JEEZ, can't they leave her alone for a minute? I wished the cameras would have stopped for just a minute, so they could have just a moment or two without everybody who was tuned in, all over everywhere, gawking at them.

Look, for whatever it's worth, she loved the guy. Go figure. She loved him a lot. I'm old enough to remember how she protected him and fought everybody and everything she regarded as a threat to him. She was the dream spouse ANY person would love to have, "my partner right or wrong." You have to give her credit for her sheer, singleminded devotion.

I cried. So there. I watched only some of the stuff on the last day (Friday), and nothing before that. Thought I should, just to witness a little of the history, because that's what it was.

I really did feel for her. Her toughest moments come now, that the circus has left town, and the flowers are dried up and thrown out, and the hospital bed has to be taken away, and all reminders of him have to be taken away, or boxed up, or sent to the Reagan library, or whatever. It won't be easy. When my dad died, my mom had to deal with all that, even though I helped (and it was I who cleaned out his apartment and took his stuff up to her - she couldn't face it by herself).

I feel for Nancy. I think she's going to be a fighter for stem cell research, and an uncomfortable reminder of how the best days for the GOP are BEHIND THEM. I think she's gonna be an uncomfortable reminder for the bushes of when their times were good. And they won't like that her popularity eclipses theirs, especially as she pushes for change and reforms that they don't want. I look forward to that, and furthermore, I look forward to supporting her on that.

Nancy Reagan can be a force for good. Look at the two independent-minded kids she birthed? There's no hope for Michael Reagan - he's off on some other planet. But Patty and Ron Junior are credits to their family and to this country. They're bound to do some good. Nancy may just win that redemption after all.