Reminder to Ron Reagan

Dear Ron:
  Although you probably never knew it, many of us loved your father, Ronald Reagan, for many reasons. 
  He was indefatigably cheerful, loved America, the last best hope on earth, and always believed our better days were ahead of us. 
  He didn't make excuses for being patriotic, which he was; he didn't make excuses for wanting to be the best in the world at everything; he didn't apologize to the world for our exceptionalism or patriotism.
  All countries should be patriotic, after all, and he didn't understand why some of us weren't.
  Thus, when we learned the terrible thief Alzheimer's disease was beckoning at his door, we were greatly saddened; as our cowboy hero suffered, we suffered. He was a political version of ourselves, a common man with dreams.
  His last letter spoke of his love for life, his humility and his acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God. 
  May we remind you, Ron Reagan, his son, flesh of his flesh and blood of his blood, of his courage, and the fact that he was, indeed, braver five minutes longer in the example he set for the rest of us:

Last Letter to America 

November 5, 1994  

In His Own Hand 

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

Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clear understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it. 

At the moment, I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life's journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes, I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

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 may be, I will leave 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.

Thank you, my friends.

  Perhaps you, who are free to express whatever you wish, don't remember the national grief that was exhibited when our friend Ronald Reagan's casket traveled across this country.
  Perhaps you don't remember the lines and lines and lines of people standing at attention, waiting silently just to witness the casket as it traversed the country.
  Perhaps you don't remember the soldiers standing at arms, the grand show that he would undoubtedly have loved. 
  If you don't, here's a reminder:

  See, for me, I clearly remember it because facts are stupid things. 
  I remember being astounded by the number of people of all political stripes who felt exactly as I did: profoundly grief stricken at the nation's loss, grateful for the show of appreciation, and reminded that even an actor can actually be somebody in this great nation.
  It was great having a president who loved us, who didn't preach to us, who believed in the Constitution and the wisdom of the Founding Fathers.
  Those were great days which, we hope, are not all behind us.
  So now that you've written this book, this remembrance of your father at 100, what did you hope to accomplish by it? 
  One last stab at a man who so obviously did not share your proclivities?
  You claim that someone hid the fact that President Reagan also had Addison's disease, even though you got the hospital and even the state wrong on who did the diagnosing and who did the hiding.
  You claim that President Reagan looked "lost and bewildered" after debates.
  You claim that President Reagan was worried about having forgotten the names of familiar canyons in California. 
  Hell, anybody over 50 has had THAT experience.
  Surely, YOU, at YOUR age, which I won't hold against you, have experienced this already. 
  If not, you will. Oh, you will.
  We understand you're a liberal atheist, and thus share little of your father's philosophical tenets of life. 
  Perhaps this last dig at him is to suggest, however subtly, that your father's philosophical tenets were based on illness, his decisions flawed because of a deteriorated mind.
  We suspect you're just trying to make money because the truth is that no one would care who you are and what you think if it weren't for your famous, loved, courageous father, whose genes were obviously not passed on to you.
  Except. Did you know.
  I don't mean to be unkind, but it's hard to understand how someone with a father like Ronald Reagan could try to hurt the man's memory this way.
  One reminder though, which many of us worry about and which may influence how many people believe what you have to say about our hero.
  It's a two edged sword, Alzheimer's is.
  Why?
  Because Alzheimer's disease is hereditary:

Alzheimer's disease strikes early and fairly often in certain families, often enough to be singled out as a separate form of the disease and given a label: early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease, or FAD. Combing through the DNA of these families, researchers have found an abnormality in one gene on chromosome 21 that is common to a few of the families. And they have linked a much larger proportion of early-onset families to recently identified and related genes on chromosomes 1 and 14 

But we won't hold your new book against you, really. Because we loved your father, who believed in cheerfulness and forgiveness. After all, it was he who said:

 If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. 

  We understand that, as a great man once said, maybe you're just going for a hell of a closing. 
  But now I have better things to do.
  I have to finish watching Despicable Me.