Hi all,
It was sure a day of wonderful funeral events. It equalled Princess
Di’s I think…and she didn’t have Gorbochoff.
I’m proud that everyone could love this man so much, just not us
Illinois-born people.
Lolly
Yeah, I think that I can deal with the attention that a past president receives at this time.
I hope all the federal people enjoyed their special day off on us though. :roll: That is a bit too much for me to bite off.
I didnn’t see the funeral in DC this AM, as I had to work, but I thought the service in California was absolutely wonderful. I watched it on CSPAN so I didn’t have to listen to any commentators and thoroughly enjoyed the band and choir performing for about an hour or so before the service. Especially “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”, which was the first thing all this week which moved me to tears.
I so feel for Nancy. The poor woman has to be absolutely exhausted.
Beth
Lemme tell ya, Steven. It was sooooo nice to wake up later than 5:00a.m. this morning. Sleeping in was so nice. Mmmm. And then the big breakfast I had … oh my … bacon, eggs, pancakes … Watching the day unfold … oh yeah, it was nice … I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 
Little John
I listened to the morning proceedings and watched the evening events. There was one melody during the morning, not one that I know by name, that I want to look up and either learn or adapt. In the evening, when the kids spoke, it felt so very personal. My own eulogy for my grandmother is fresh in my mind and I could easily identify with each and every story. When Nancy began to tear up towards the end of the formal proceedings, so did I.
One cliche is to measure a person’s life by the number of people that pay their respects at the funeral. The spontaneous and overwhelming showing by the American people for the public viewings and lining the roads show how many lives were touched.
- Bill
I hear you, Bill. I held it together pretty well until they gave Nancy the folded flag. When she laid her head on the casket and cried, I lost it. … cried my eyes out.
Best,
LJ
A friend of mine stood in line six and a half hours to walk past the casket. He started in line at 1 AM at the Air and Space Museum.
My daughter’s first grade class apparently got to watch the whole national funeral service, from what I can gather. It is wonderful to me that they took the time to mark this piece of history with children who are only just old enough to understand some of it. I had to work so missed the whole thing, but got to hear about it from my daughter. It’s fascinating to share something like this with a child who wasn’t even born when he was president, but who is developing a sense of history and proportion.
Poor Nancy. It’s hard enough to go through the funeral of a spouse, but for it to go on for a whole week and with such pomp and circumstance must be more than a person can reasonably be expected to bear. May peace be with her.
Robin
I had to leave the room before I did the same. My heart goes out to Mrs. Reagan – how horrible to be on display to the world in the midst of heart-breaking sorrow; and how admirably she carried it off. God Bless her & their family.
~Judy
I thought the funeral was wonderfully well-done. I lost it during Margaret Thatcher’s recorded speech, and again when Former Pres. Bush’s voice caught as he was recalling an anecdote. And I was so happy they used Rite I…it just seems so much more fitting and dignified for such an occasion.
I didn’t see the burial service, because I had thought that was supposed to be a private service for just family and close friends. I didn’t realize they were going to televise it.
Redwolf
Yes. Truly the next best thing to the 1928 BCP.
It was, in all honesty, an extremely dignified, wonderfully executed tribute to Mr. Reagan. Far, far nicer than the sort of funerals people get in places like Nicaragua…or El Salvador.
I haven’t seen Mr Reagan’s funeral in detail, but the most impressive funeral I have ever seen was the one of Queen Mum. All these uniforms, horses, carriages and fantastic music. When it’s about pomp & circumstance, you can’t beat a monarchy.
I’m with LittleJohn. It was great, and I really needed it. BTW, we got a day off for Nixon’s funeral, too. 
Afghanistan, working-class America…
Probably expensive, too, but we can just tack it onto the deficit.
Jaz Lolly you opened a pandoras box there!
Sure it was a great thing to watch! I just spent two days on the Telly and all just for a few good laughs. (What ever else Ronnie R did, he certainly had a great sense of humor and knew how to use it! )
After the last few ceremonies, now I know why Rev Ian Paisley (Presbyterian fascist N.I) had no worries in the 80s about the Mericans arriving to deal with the ethnic cleansing being done in Norn Iron by the UDA - UDF - Unioists etc. Why would he be worried when President Ronnie Reagan already converted into a Billyboy had an Orange Man for a pastor!
The funny thing about Ronnie was he was soooo Irish as to be easily mistaken for an Irish barman in Taigland - ie the South, the wit, the jokes, the customer manner. Anyway if he was not a successful actor with mountains of money the only blessing he would have gotten from a Presbyterian Orangeman Pastor would have been an ounce of lead from the end of an M16 - Mention of which reminds me, perhaps they tried to do
just that but not with the planning of the Kennedy assasination?
Yes, it was very appropriate.
Or Grenada…
According to the estimates I heard the Federal portion carried a price tag of sixty-eight million dollars (a number that big needs to be written out).
$66 Mil = cost of shutting down the government for a day
$1.5 Mil= Actual cost of Federal proceedings
$500, 000 = in-kind costs to the District of Columbia for police and other services.
That doesn’t count the California part.
I watched the california ceremony. Very dignified, however even as an inveterate free-speech populist I was really outraged at one point. At the end, as the family said their final goodbye, CNN cameras bored in closer and closer, not wanting to miss a single tear.
Surely at a time like that they could have been given a little PRIVACY??? Is it too much to ask the media to BACK OFF for just a minute or two? I thought it was mean and ghoulish and inappropriate.
I am concerned that the extensive media coverage of the Reagan ceremonies has caused me to lose focus on the Scott Peterson and Kobe Bryant trials.