Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. Ronald Reagan

        I cannot add anything to the warts-and-all portrait of Ronald Reagan that will emerge in the days to come as he lays in state and is finally laid to rest at his presidential library in Simi Valley, California, just off the Ronald Reagan Freeway. Many blogs, articles, television shows and discussions will more than adequately accomplish that. All I can contribute are my personal thoughts and feelings on how the man impacted and shaped my life and world.

Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. Ronald Reagan

        I learned of President Reagan's death here on JU. A sidebar title referred to it. Did I read that right? Could it be true? Since blogs aren't a good place to get credible information, I quickly flipped over to Yahoo News. "Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at 93." I wilted. It was true.

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. . .. 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

        It shouldn't be a shock. He had been sick for a decade. Nancy had recently said, "Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him." It shouldn't be a shock, yet it still felt like a blow. Though expected, it was unwelcome. Like Bruce Lee being punked by an allergy, that was no way for a great man to go out. I used to pray he would recover, that he could end his life knowing what he had accomplished and enjoying the coda of his life. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
        During Iran-Contra, Johnny Carson had mocked the idea Reagan couldn't remember what he had done on some specific day. After the Alzheimer's revelation, I reflected on that and wondered if it had retrospectively softened Carson's view any. Maybe Reagan hadn't been so out of touch, only suffering the initial stages of the illness that would take his life.

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. Ronald Reagan

        Ronald Reagan was the dominating figure in the age of my adolescence and growth to manhood. His presidency shaped my views of the world, politics, the way things "should be." The glamour of the Reagan Whitehouse perfectly matched the era of Dynasty and Dallas. Extravagance, wealth, style. Actually, Dynasty and Dallas perfectly matched the era of Ronald Reagan. It was through the contrast between he and successor George H.W. Bush that I learned exactly how much the personality of the President shapes the mood and direction of the country. (Probably the only reason I voted for the first George Bush was out of a regret I couldn't have voted for Reagan and a desire to somehow touch the dynasty.) Yuppies, Me Generation, "Greed is good" all flowed from Reagan's show of bourgeois opulence (and Nancy's china plate splurge).

Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying. Ronald Reagan

        Many years ago I heard a question designed to provoke thought and meditation. "What five people would you like to meet if you could meet anyone at all." I only remember three of my five -- two are now dead -- and one was Ronald Reagan. (The other two I remember were Bob Hope and Johnny Carson.) By the time I was old enough and felt myself to possibly be in a position enough to meet him, he was already falling into the illness that necessitated seclusion. (I almost bought a house in Bob Hope's celebrity riddled Toluca Lake neighborhood once. In retrospect I wish I had, just to have met the man.)

A woman is like a teabag -- only in hot water do you realize how strong she is. Nancy Reagan

        Meeting Reagan might have been melancholy. His advancing years -- even at that point -- couldn't have weighed well on him. I did meet Nancy Reagan once, more than a decade ago. She seemed so old, so frail, so small -- not at all the confident and strong woman she had once projected. That too was sad, in a way; but to touch history was also a worthwhile experience. How much more so would meeting the President himself have been? I regret never having found out.

Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close. Ronald Reagan

        It took me a week to cry over the loss of Tony Randall; Reagan, mere minutes. As I drove around yesterday and saw the flags at half-mast I began tearing up again. It was all I could do to pull myself together. Many of the mourners filing past the flag-draped casket in Simi Valley showed those same emotions. Several men at different times paused, saluted, then turned away as the tears welled up. Reagan was clearly a man more loved than hated. Maybe some of those who still bear grudges against him should pause to ask themselves what kind of man inspires such loyalty, devotion, and emotion, and how many will express even half the sorrow at their passing?

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere. Ronald Reagan

        I simply cannot think of my adolescence without thinking of Ronald Reagan. Images of he and Nancy are as evocative as a song. The feelings, the moods, my life -- it all comes rushing in. It's impossible to measure the impact Ronald Reagan had on my beliefs in those formative years and, hence, on all areas of my life. From politics, to labor relations, to management skills, to how to inspire and lead, even what to do and not do in a debate. Watching the clips, reading the quotes it strikes me I will never know the extent of his influence on me. Each recaptured moment reveals a new origin to my life and mental world. Each facet of Reagan reveals another facet of me.
        I may never know the extent of his influence on me, but I can positively state one thing: No non-relative will ever have as great an impact on me, my life, my world as this great man who I never met but touched me nonetheless, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Most of my dreams came true. We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. (Farewell Address to the Nation, January 20th, 1989) Ronald Reagan