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tv   Key Capitol Hill Hearings  CSPAN  March 11, 2016 2:00pm-4:01pm EST

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>> and resurrection will come as the lord. yethat believeth in me, working to show he live.
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lives in mydeemer and he shall stand on the latter-day. and those body shall be destroyed, yet shall i see god. for nonetheless a little to himself, and no man dies to himself, for if we live with unto the lord, and if we die we die unto the lord. whether we live therefore or die, we are the lord. blessed are the dead who die in the lord for me even so, says the spirit, so they rest from their labors.
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>> mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord, he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, he hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword, his truth is marching on. glory, glory, hallelujah!
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glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! his truth is marching on. i have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps, they have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps, i can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps, his day is marching on. glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! his truth is marching on.
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in the beauty of the lilies christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while god is marching on. glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! his truth is marching on. glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! his truth is marching on. marching on. marching on.
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♪ >> the lord be with you. let us pray. oh god, whose mercies cannot be numbers, accept our prayers on nancy,of of thy servant and rancher entrance into the land of light and joy in the fellowship of thy saints, through jesus christ, thy son our lord, who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit, one god, now and forever, amen. >> a reading from the book of proverbs. when one finds a worth the wife,
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her value is far beyond pearls. her husband, and trusting his heart tumor has unfeeling pride and should bring some good, and not people all the days of her life. she obtained wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful hands. bringsrchant ships, she provisions from afar. she gets up while it is still night, and provides food for her household. out of her earnings, she plants aboutyard credit she says her work with strength, and sturdy are her arms. she sets about her treating with successes, and at night her lamp does not dim. in her hand she puts the distaff and in her fingers the spindle. she opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
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they do not need to fear when the snow comes, all of her charges are doubly cloth. she makes covering for her bed she is clothed in fine linen and , purple. her husband is respected at the city gate, where he sits with the elders of the land. she makes linen garments and sells them, and stocks the merchants with belts. she is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come. she opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is kindly council. she watches the conduct of her counsel and does not eat her food and idleness. her children rise up and praise her, her husband also extols her. many are the women of proven worth, but you excelled them all. charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the lord is to be praised. give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise for the city gates.
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the word of the lord. >> thanks be to god. ,> in the spring of 1987 president reagan and i were driven into a large hanger and out of the airport to await the arrival of my wife and mrs. reagan, prior to the departure ceremonies to the return to washington following their highly successful statemen visit to canada.
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president reagan i were alone except for the security detail. when her car drove in a moment outr, outstanding -- stepped our wives, looking like a million dollars. ,s they headed toward us present reagan beam, he threw his arm around my shoulder, and he said with a grin, you know, brian, for two irishmen, we sure married of. -- up. [laughter] again -- this antidote and don't again, because it reflects a unique reagan reality. she really, always, was on his mind. we all know of ron's love and average for nancy, and the elegance and constant manner in which he publicly expressed it. one day at the white house, absolutely flowing tribute by president reagan to his beloved nancy, i said,
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privately, you know, ron, you're going to give me and all the rest of us here in a whole lot of trouble with our lives. because we cannot keep up with you. [laughter] the president chuckled and look at me with that irish twinkle, and said well, brian, that is your public, not mine. [laughter] to illustrate this absolutely unique partnership and relationship, let me share with you today a letter he wrote to nancy on their first christmas onether in the white house, december 25, 1981. r,dear mrs. there are several less beloved women in my life and on christmas i should be giving them gold and precious stones
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and furs and lace and perfume. i know these with full short of expressing how much these women mean to me and how into my life would be without them. there is of course my first lady. she brings so much grace and charm to whatever she does, that even stuffy, formal functions sparkle and turn into fun times. .verything is done with class all i have to do is wash out and show up -- wash up and show up. there's another woman in my life who does things i do not always get to see, but i hear about them and seek photos of them had sh. she takes an abandoned child in her arms, and the look on her face, only a madonna could match. and the look on her face is one of adoration, because i adore
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her as well. , andins over a wheelchair will touch an elderly that went with-- elderly invalid warmth and compassion. there is another gal i love, who is a nest builder. for threee stuck days in a hotel room, she would manage to make it home sweet home. she move things around, looks at it, straightens this, straightens that, any wonder why it was not like that in the first place. i am also crazy about the girl who goes to the ranch with me. if we are tidying up the woods, she is a key we powerhouse. pushing over dead trees. she is a wonderful person to sit by the fire with, or to ride with, or just to be with when the sun goes down and the stars come out. if ever she stopped going to the ranch, i was stopped to, because
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in every beauty spot there is, and i couldn't stand that. then there is a sentimental lady i love, whose eyes fell up so easily. she loves tohand, laugh them and her laugh is like tinkling bells. i hear those bells, and i feel good all over, even if i tell a joke she has heard many times before. fortunately, all of these women in my life are you. is, forely for me that there could be no life for me without you. browning asked, how do i love thee, let me count the ways. for me, there is no way to account for i love the whole gang of you, mommy, first lady, the sentimental you, the fun you , and the media warehouse you --
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key we powerhouse you. merry christmas al capone all my love, lucky me -- merry christmas all, all my love, lucky me. there was a love story for the ages. as first couple ron and nancy reagan represented america with great distinction. they had a magnificent sense of vocation. they had style, and they had grace, and they had class. some of you may have heard my williame to lines from butler gates with talking in other circumstances to with reagan's meant to us all. words those same golden tumbled across cotton and down the vista of the years, as we think of nancy reunited, finally, with her beloved ronnie. think where man's
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glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was that i had such friends. ♪
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>> ave maria. maria] ♪
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to be unaware you
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brothers, all those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. for we believe that jesus died and rose, so too will god, through jesus, ringwood him those who have fallen asleep. this on theell you word of the lord, that we who are alive and left until the coming of the lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. for the lord himself, with the word of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of god will come down from heaven and the dead in christ will rise first. we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air. thus, we shall always be with the lord. therefore, console one another with these words. the word of the lord. >> thanks be to god.
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>> thank you so much. it is an honor, and i'm so grateful to be included today. to say a fewsked words before i read a passage from the new testament for mrs. reagan. you may want to sit down. [laughter] interviewed her, it was long after the white house years, and i did not know her then. but our conversation was about the president and alzheimer's, and how you go on when every , the size of the love
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is the size of the loss. and when the interview was over, we kept talking. i checked in with her by phone, and came to los angeles to have lunches with her. those lunches, in which she a food,copic amounts of tiny chopped salads and one chocolate chip cookie, and iced tea. of that if iified used to hide my role under the table and butter is, so she would not see it. i did not want to offend her. [laughter] mistake, she waould bop a journalist if she did not like a report that was done. but she never party differences into definitions. she was way too interested in people into you really were, what you really knew. all of us will together in this life.
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and so we talked about politics, and celebrities, and she told within stories about old hollywood. and the days when life would throw you a curve, and you would lipstick, put on your comb your hair, and kept the band playing. i always thought of that that saidy, morocco, there is no foreign legion, just for women, but there is a foreign women -- foreign legion for women as well. they have no uniform and no flag, no metals, but they are afraid. -- but they are brave. as lunch with an commission would make her way up the hill to the house with the memories, the silences, and her happiness and the children were coming. beenll this week i have thinking about watching her heads down the hall, because she would head into the bedroom and right there, i cannot remember what it was, was a pillow or a
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frame to needlepoint, but i know the words were clearly for president reagan. , could if you must leave you just take me with you? -- ink the vatican today think of that again today as i am asked to read this passage from the gospel of john. said, "do not let your hearts be troubled. trust in god, trust also in me. in my father's house has many are many rooms, if it were not so, i would have told you. i go to prepare a place for you, and if i go to prepare a place for you, i will come back and take you with me so that where i am coming you may also be. you know the way to the place where i am going." thomas said to him, "lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
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jesus answered, "i am the way and the truth and the life. no one comes to the father except through me." for nancy, the word of the lord. >> thanks be to god. ♪
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[pie jesu-requiem] ♪
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>> we gather here today to say goodbye to nancy davis reagan, a beautiful, smart, and gracious woman, a woman who captured the heart of a man who loved his craft, his country, and his countrymen, and most especially, loved this remarkable woman. a woman without whom ronald wilson reagan would never have become the 40th president of the united states, or succeeded as .ell as he did the cold war that president reagan did so much to end brought them together. in 1950, the name nancy davis
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appeared on a list of communist sympathizers, with the hollywood lackluster's no that this was a different person, and not the young actress? she took her problem to her union boss, the president of the screen actors guild, ronald reagan. they met at a hollywood restaurant. the dinner would be brief, they agreed, because each had an early casting call. in fact, neither had an early casting call. [laughter] an early casting call was the standard hollywood excuse to put a quick end to unpleasant dinners. but what i opened the door, she will later, i knew he was the man i wanted to marry. their meeting lasted through dinner, and then into the wee hours at a nearby club.
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the third age in shakespeare's seven ages of man is the lover, sighing like a furnace, with a wolf hall ballard. iskespeare, of course, gently mocking young lovers, their passion always burns hot, he said, and then it feeds. well, the bard never met nancy or her ronnie. as prime minister mulroney pointed out, they could hardly was to be a part in when he on a movie set, or on the road for general electric, or as a candidate, or as governor, or as president, he wrote her, every single night. when they were together, he hated love notes around the love notes around the house for her to find. one night at pacific palisades, he wrote, whenever i treasure and enjoy, all would be without meeting if i did not have you.
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i live in a permanent christmas because god gave me you. nancy saved his love letters in a shopping bag in her closet. she reciprocated by slipping little notes and jellybeans in with the clothes in his suitcase . and while he was away, she said, i would drive home feeling very lonely and very sad, and i would knit him socks. she also reciprocated by dedicating her life to him. i was, i suppose, a woman of the old school, she wrote. if you wanted to make your life with a man, you took on whatever his interests were, and they begin your interests, too. if ronald reagan had owned a shoe store, nancy would have been very happy pushing shoes and working the register. ronald reagan's interest turned
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in a different direction, of course, to politics and public service. nancy, who might have preferred a more private life, became the consummate political wife and first lady. he owed much of the success of his presidency to her. she had an instinct for reading people that the president knew he lacked. nancy, he wrote, sees the goodness in people, but she also has an extra instinct that allows her to see the flaws. nancy was the president's eyes and years when it came to personnel. she knew who was paddling their own canoe and who was loyal to the president. she was as tough as a marine drill sergeant, as many of us found out when things did not go well. [laughter] the president's advisers learn to keep her informed and seek her support. if she trusted them and agreed,
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she would at her voice to there's, but she was, without a doubt, absolutely without a .oubt, his closest advisor she is the one who said, you need to do this, ronnie, you need to find a way to negotiate with gorbachev. the only time i saw her lose her composure was the day the president was shot. she was devastated and, in fact, she fell apart. even in his condition, he did his best to give her strength. honey, i forgot to duck, he said. that was his way of comforting her. president reagan left the hospital convinced that god had spared him for a special purpose, and the first lady left with a fierce determination to protect him and every way that she possibly could. ronald and nancy reagan were defined by their love for each
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other. they were as close to being one person as it is possible for any two people to be. when the president made his slow exit from the stage, she dedicated herself to his memory, and to his place in history. , has exited the stage, to join her beloved ronnie in eternity. peterjust imagine how st. might let the president know that she had arrived. a beautiful lady is at the gate asking for you, he said, with a jar of jelly beans. a shopping bag full of letters, and a suitcase filled with hand-knitted socks. we love you, nancy. we miss you, but we will see you on the other side.
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>> this is a very emotional and evocative time for me. in 1966d in los angeles to join nbc news three and a half years out of south dakota, i was 26 years old, and the geniuses on the nbc news desk said to me there is an actor running for governor of california. we don't think he is going anywhere, you are the junior guy, so you get on the bus with him. [laughter] it is also worth pointing out that was before the brown family
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put a semipermanent lease on the governor's office of cal yet. [laughter] and so i did. an instructive beginning for me as a political correspondent, because i saw the best run campaign i had ever seen up to that point, and maybe since. the time the governor got ready to run for a second term, i knew my way around, so i went to the los angeles press club where he would make his walked into, and the holding room early and took a seat in the far corner. then i realized it was kind of reserved for reagan supporters and family and friends because they began to line the walls, including jimmy and gloria stuart. nancy came in and she was on autopilot as she made her way around that wall of friends and kissrters, giving each a and a word or two did it dawned on me that she was going to get to me. i am the outlier at that point,
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i'm a reporter from the press. she got to me and she leaned back and i quickly said, mrs. reagan, whatever it is i have, it is not catching. she laughed heartily, leaned over, and gave me a kiss. that was the beginning of a remarkable friendship between the first lady and a reporter. it was also a time when i began to appreciate just how much she meant to the man who became the president of the united dates, not just as his wife, but as his best political advisor, as jim baker and others have pointed out. as we all saw in those photographs and videos, she could be the adoring wife in public, but behind the scenes was a politically astute analyst and the keeper of the flame. we stayed in close touch but it was not always easy. shortly after his inauguration as president, i made some public comments about his early years in which i said i thought the
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poor boy there and it was somewhat overblown. after all, he had been a successful broadcaster in his 20's and then a movie star under contract before he was 30. nancy was furious, and the word came from jim baker and others, stay clear of the white house for a while. we will let you know when it is safe to go back. [laughter] about two months later, meredith and i were invited to a state dinner and i was told that i would have to think about what i arrived in the receiving line. don't say anything to the president, he doesn't care, but nancy is still steaming. --re does was nervous meredith was nervous because i had not come up with anything to say. her, andi stood before i saw hinder her eyes that steely glaze from people who did not please her. and i saw -- spontaneously said,
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nancy, back to square one. she looked at me and broke out laughing and said, back to square one. housext day, a white photograph of that moment arrived with the inscription, tom, back to square one, love, nancy. that was such a telling moment of how astute she was as a political wife, as someone who knew about personal relationships, how to get her message across, and then quickly move on. saw those other moments when she was utterly in command. jim has her for to that awful day when the president was shot. they did not know what his condition was. when the secret service told her that there was a shooting, the president was rushed to the hospital, she said i must go. they said we don't think that is a good idea. she said right away, you get me a car or i will want to the hospital. the president and i shared a birthday.
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over the years, it became an occasion to share phone calls and notes, especially between mrs. reagan and me. when the president was going through his ordeal after leaving the white house, our calls became more regular, and i could hear her loneliness, and on one of the calls i suggested the next time i'm in california, we should have lunch, and maybe we should invite our mutual friend warren beatty. no, tom, she said, it is enough to have lunch with you. i'm told the next day when the phone call arrived and it was nancy saying, do you think ward might like to have lunch with us -- warren might want to have lunch with us? [laughter] and the luncheon companion star power when of many multiples. there is nothing like walking into a los angeles dining room with mrs. reagan on your arm. brokaw and beatty were also quickly in the publications. we treasure those lunches because she always arrived with
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mr. political observations and the best gossip from both coasts. metaphorically, there was a lunch for me. as a eula just at president for his funeral, i looked down at the first few and decided it was my duty to name them, president and mrs. bush, president and mrs. bush, president carter, and vice president dick cheney, president and mrs. clinton. i finished my remarks, walked about, sat beside meredith and said to me, you did not mention nancy. i said, she is not here. she said, yes, she is, she is hidden behind the column. i had not seen her, so i'm eagerly called ever speech will friend stu spencer who answered by saying, what were you thinking, brokaw? stu, do you think she noticed? [laughter] are you kidding? here is her mobile number.
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call her right now, which i did. i took my medicine from an aggrieved friend for the next 15 minutes, until she accepted my explanation, and then it was back to square one again, and the way i got out of it was, she had been given a terrible seat, i agreed. what i so admired about nancy was that ability to do just that . she knew how to protect her husband and her president, but also her own place, to stand her ground, and once it had been resolved and move on. that was never more evident on the many occasions when i spoke here at the library. we meet in a holding room downstairs to catch up on the latest gossip, what was going on in our personal lives, and then after everyone had been seated, after she was confined to a wheelchair especially, i would help get her to her feet, then
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we would take her to an entryway that had been curtained off, and beyond the entry way could hear andmusic began to swell, off stage announcer in toning, ladies and gentlemen, the former first lady of the united states nancy reagan, and her guest tom brokaw. would escort her into the auditorium and into the front row and seizure the side tom selleck, her friend, and then give my lecture. the last time we were there anether, i received enthusiastic response from the audience. but i wanted to be sure nancy approved, so i leaned over to her seat as the applause continued and said, i hope that was ok. she whispered back to me, tom, give me a little kiss, they are going to love that. [laughter] and so, i did, and so they did.
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editor of random house reminded me that when we lost nancy last weekend, it would have been the 68th anniversary of their marriage, ronnie and nancy. so god bless nancy, mrs. ronald reagan, first lady, and the unlikely friend of a reporter. thank you, nancy. >> in the month before my father died, my mother repeated often that she had to be there at his last moment.
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her determination was ferocious. she simply had to be at his side when he left this world. i said the only thing i could think of, and what i thought my father would say, was that it was in god's hands. she was there, and occasionally might not even god have the guts to argue with nancy reagan. declined, shelth was quite adamant and vocal about reuniting with my father on the other side after her passing. i am hoping for god's peace of wish.that she got her my parents were two halves of a circle, closed tight around a world in which their love for each other was the only substance they needed. while they might venture out and include others in their orbit, no one truly crossed the boundary into the space they held as there's.
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i saw this exquisitely portrayed in front of me one summer evening when i was a teenager. we used to rent a beach house for a few weeks in the summer. with a vividng sunsets streaked across the sky, i looked out and saw my parents sitting on the sand, close together, heads tilted in conversation. there was so much of vastness around them, the blue pacific, the orange and pink sky, miles of white sand, and then there was the circle of their own private world, as clear as if it had been traced around them, indestructible, impenetrable, and island for two. i knew i would carry that image for the rest of my life. when my father was shot and my mother rushed to the hospital, they at first would not let her see him. i have to, she said. you don't understand how it is with us. the moment before my father
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died, he opened his eyes, which had been closed for days, and he looked straight at my mother. the circle was drawn again as he .eft this world in the weeks after he died, my mother thought she heard his first that's coming down the hall late at night. she said he would appear to her long after midnight, sitting on the edge of the bed. i don't know anything about the possible passages between this world and the next, but i do know her faith in these visits eased some of her loneliness. they made her feel that he was close by. on one occasion, i am quite certain that she was channeling my father. i had gone up to her house and found her very busy making phone calls to elected officials, trying to gain their support for stem cell legislation, something she was quite passionate about. she ended one phone call and gave me a somber look. a calm tone,d, in
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sounding much more like my father than herself, karl rove is dogging my phone calls. everyone i call, he calls right after and try to get them to oppose stem cell legislation. , are youer, i asked sure your phone is not bound -- bugged? no, i had a secret service check on that. [laughter] i told her,furious, puzzled by the fact that she did not seem furious at all. she shook her head, no, and her entire demeanor was not only calm but practically zen. even people who never knew my mother will know that the word is and has never been applied to nancy reagan. but that is what i saw. there is no time to get upset, she said, there is work to be done, i cannot get distracted. i have to keep moving forward.
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, who are you, say and what have you done with my mother? [laughter] he referred to as late-night visit from my father deceased, she no longer hurt his footsteps in the hall, but she never stopped missing him. she tells me wants the reason she had a television on all the time was because it filled the house with sound and made her feel less lonely. remedy for her loneliness was to fill the empty spaces with stories and memories . a few days before she died, i reminded her of something that happened many decades ago when we lived in pacific palisades. my father used to get assange is from a large eastern european men who would come to the house and set up his massage table in my parents dressing room. on one of these days, as my father lay face down on a table, my mother tiptoed in, kissed him
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lightly on the back of his neck, and tiptoed out. [laughter] he did not know it was her. [laughter] but he went through the rest of the massage. [laughter] , and after therd missouri left, he said to my mother, i don't think we can have him back anymore. [laughter] why, she asked, what happened? well, he kissed me. when she told him it was her recovery he was flooded with relief, and said, thank god, i did not know what to do. my mother's laughter in remembering that day was unbeknownst to me, would turn
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out to be the last time i would hear her laugh. no secret that my mother and i had a challenging and often contentious relationship. when i was a child, i imagined having warm, comfortable conversations with her, the kind of conversations that feel like lamplight. the reality was far different. i tried her patients, and she intimidated me. we were never mild with one another, whether we were distant and angry, or bonded and close. our emotions burned up the color chart. nothing was ever great. but there were moments in our history when all that was going on between us was love. i choose to remember those moments. i choose to remember the mother who held together the back of her young daughter's head after she fell at a friends house and
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cracked her skull open on the fireplace hearth. she drove with one hand and held my head with the other, talking soothingly to me and trying to conceal the fear in her eyes. watching her was hypnotic. it made my head hurt less. to remember my mother, framed by the window of a new york hotel room as i told her that i have been involved in a complicated relationship for two years and has now been cruelly tossed aside. i was 19. i felt older and more wounded than any 19-year-old should feel. i needed a mother, and i came to mine, holding out a fragile hope that she would keep me from crumbling beyond all recognition. she did. she did not judge me, she was not punishing or accusatory. she was tender and understanding and loving. i choose to remember walking with her along the beach. somehow, the ocean always calms
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the air between us and allows us to be easy with each other. most of all, i will remember looking out the window to the sweep of sunset and seeing my parents sitting together on the sand, maybe on the other side there are other shores and internally brilliant sunsets. maybe it's possible to sit there , two soulsdisturbed happily entwined in eating only each other. robert sexton wrote, across the years, i will walk with you. indeed green forests, on short sands, and when our time on earth is through, in heaven, too, you will have my hand. i hope for my parents those parents don't live only in the poets imagination, but are a map to what they both long for and believed in in the world beyond this one.
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>> i love that story about the muscle or -- masseur. i imagined my man laying on the table, laying there, just waiting for this man to do something else. what must have been going through his mind? [laughter] i'm batting cleanup here, so on behalf of my family, thank you all for coming here. we really appreciate it. my sister patty and i who suddenly find ourselves orphaned , really appreciate being surrounded by so much love and kindness. tom, everybody else who spoke, their kind words, appreciate that very much. and to the folks at the library here who put this whole thing on . what a terrific job they have
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done. we so much appreciate that, too. , and sheove a party would want this to be a party. this is not a tragedy, this is a celebration. i hope you had a chance to have a look around here. some of you, of course, have been here many times before. thise you realize, none of would have been possible without nancy reagan. i do not mean that she was active in fund raising, building the library -- of course, she was. what i mean to say is there would be no ronald reagan presidential library without a president ronald reagan, and there likely would not have been a president ronald reagan, without a nancy reagan. of course, it may not have happened that way, if she was not made of such stern stuff,
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she may not have made it all the way to being mrs. ronald reagan. my dad played hard to get a little bit when they were dating, way back when. he had already purchased a ranch not too far from here in malibu, and he loved to go there and ride his horses and buck hey, generally get dirty and sweaty outdoors. not the kind of thing that she is really crazy about, my mother. but she was a good sport, and she wanted to participate in this. if he loved his ranch, well, she was going to love the ranch, too. they would go out there, and she would wonder how she could help. this ranch in malibu, about 700 acres, had a long driveway that led to the house, about a half mile, fences on both sides. so they would go out there and , but she the ranchers wanted to help, as i said, so she asked him, what can i do to
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help? did i mention that the fences lining that half mile driveway were unpainted? so he handed her a bucket of paint and a brush, and my mother .ainted a miles worth of fence every post, every plank, both sides. once. [laughter] in that paint job lasted for the duration. now, my father was confident, but he was not an arrogant man at all. totakes a great deal of the run for president of the united states or even governor of california, for that matter. and her absolute believe in him pah to runhat chutz
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for office. my mother provide encouragement. she guided him, provided a refuge into which he could repair to gather his strength, she guarded his privacy, she protected him. both possessed great individual talents, but as a couple, they were more than the sum of their parts, and it would be a mistake , by the way, to consider her somehow subordinate to him, just because he was the one usually taking center stage. they were co-equals. .hey complement and one another individually, they may have gone far, but together, they could, and did go anywhere. my father was inclined to believe that everyone was basically good, and that certainly, anyone who worked for him was pure of heart and could never be nursing a private agenda. my mother did not share that inclination. [laughter]
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and she did not have that luxury. in my mother's world, you are either helpful to her husband, or you were not. i think we all know which side of the equation you would want to be on. since we are among friends, i , she was notadmit always the easiest person to deal with. she could be difficult, demanding, she could be a bit obsessive, truly, a royal pain in the ask, when she wanted to be. but usually only so that my father did not have to be. you did not want to get on mom's bad side. particularly by hurting her husband. if you did that, you had earned yourself and implacable foe. if you happen to run into the ghost of don regan sometime, just ask him. on the other hand, yucatan as for a more loyal or dedicated
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friend. just ask joan rivers, should you run into her in the hereafter. when jones husband died, she was on the east coast, and joan could not get the corner to release the body, so he could come home to the west coast. joan is a comedian, she did not know who to call. who do you call to pull strings like this? she was acquainted with my mother, but they were not great friends yet. nevertheless, she bucked up her courage and called the white house and got my mother on the phone. joan's husband's body was on the next plane out of town to the west coast, and joan became my mother's body for the rest of restife -- buddy for the of her life. i see the faces of many friends here today, people that have known and loved my mother for years. but most of my mother's bodies are gone now. she is among the last of her
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cohort, the old gang, her generation, and now she is truly with them. if my mother had one, great talent, it was that she knew how to love, and she loved one man more than the world. in her later years after my father had gone, she used to ask me, whether i thought she would be with him again when she died. i'm not a believer in the supernatural, but i always assured her, wherever that had gone, she was surely going to go there, too. we should all be so lucky to stand up where we have always wanted to be, and today my mother comes to rest on this lovely hilltop with its herreaching views, next to beloved ronald reagan library, and by the way, from here, she will be able to keep an eye on things. just saying. no slacking. how long will it be before tales
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begin to emerge with a petite chanel spirit roaming the galleries and the halls? just checking to make sure that things are running smoothly. but most importantly, she will once again lay down beside the man who was the love of her life, the one that she loved until the end of her days. they watched the sun dropped over the hills over the west toward the sea as night falls, they would look across the valley. my father would tell her the lights below are the jewels for her. the moon and the stars will turn overhead, and here they will stay, as they always wished it to be, resting in each other's arms, only each other's arms, until the end of time.
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♪ amazing grace! how sweet the
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sound, that saved a wretch, like me! i once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now i see. 'twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved, how precious did that grace
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appear the hour i first believed! the lord hath promised good to me, his word my hope secures, he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
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when we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing god's praise than when we first begun.
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♪ god of grace and glory, we rumor before you this way our sister nancy, we thank you for giving her to us, her family and friends, give us faith to see in sot to gate of eternal life that in quiet confidence we may continue our force on earth, until you're called and we are reunited windows that have gone before, amen. please be seated. today, we are exactly where we ought to be, standing with this family, and one another before the mystery of life and death, say in our prayers and farewell to nancy davis reagan.
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rabbi was20th century once asked, what is the most important thing that a religious person can do? his answer was given in one word. remember. that is precisely what we do this day, this is what we do as religious people every time we gather. we hear again and again the stories of encountering god, ancient and cherished, stories that point to god as ineffable mystery, yet still revealed to our fragile and mortal humanity. we were ever god's saving love, for the human race and family, and in that act of remembering, the god of life and giver of every good gift is present to us . in these moments that i speak to you, it is really for one to gather all the remembrances that you have just heard, those that you carry in your hearts, those of the people
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of our nation and the world, and to remind you where to place them all, before the living god, who gave nancy life from the first, and who now receives it back again. who is this god? this is the one who raised of israel out of bondage in egypt, fulfilling ancient promises, and who raised of jesus from the resurrected life. the gone in whose presence we gather today and to whom we commend the life and soul of nancy is a god of justice. the poor,to lift up the vulnerable, and all on the margins of life. a god of love who wants you to that in every circumstance of life, that you are beloved, just becausered,
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you are you. this is a god who loves fiercely , who traffics in light and death, and is encountered in every dimension in life, beautiful and complex. nancy knew of this. she knew it because she lived it. november 2014, i was invited to meet mrs. reagan at her home. there were four of us, mrs. reagan and two of her dear friends. we entered her bedroom where mrs. reagan dressed comfortably, and with a quiet elegance, was partly reclined on her bed. we were there over one hour. as the threeened, of them told stories from the white house years and beyond, some dramatic, some hilarious, and others that caused us to fall into a companionable silence. photographs on the bedside table, i asked about
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several of them, and one by one, she looked at them and spoke about places and events over long years. finally, i picked up the one closest to her. it was worn and creased, slightly weathered. what about this one, mrs. reagan? she held it in silence, and turning to me, she said, this one is my favorite. of president reagan, who had begun his dissent into alzheimer's. he, too was mostly reclined. of the photo was their profiles. nancy just above them, their faces one -- very near to one another. nose to nose, eye to eye. it showed a deep tenderness,
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even in the illness. of all the photos, this was her favorite. she kept looking at it, seemingly transported to another place. i said, mrs. reaganit showed a a picture of you living out the promises of your marriage and .idelity and love after a brief silence, she said, yes, it is, and handed it back to be placed on the table, nearest to her. poet henry van dyke written, time is too slow for those who wait, too swift or those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice. but for those who love, time is eternity. nancy reagan glanced at truth. she and her beloved ronnie shared a great love. a very great love. and couldgendary instruct us all. that eternity is
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about so much more than time, for it is about fulfillment and completion. and so important for nancy, reunion, as she is joined with her beloved ronnie. thankst week, as we give for the life of nancy reagan, i want to speak of an even greater love. it is one that we know as , and the life, death, resurrection of jesus christ climaxing at that first easter. each gospel tells of it differently, ironically, undergirding the veracity, providing a stereoscopic view of a truth, unparalleled in all of literature and life. the events of holy week leading to jesus's death sent his closest disciples into fearful hiding and finally brought the strong women to his tomb in the dark of that first easter don.
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there, god had climaxing at that first easter. each gospel tells of it differently, ironically, undergirding the veracity, providing a acted, a cosmos-altering explosion of divine light and life was released, surging at god's command, breaking the three-day canopy of silence. there jesus rises. from death to new life. and all creation rises with ihi. in a newly beheld radiance that is without analogy in the risen christ. death is defeated, vanquished, forever. id raised jesus that you and might share in his resurrection. it is true, we are raised with standsis nancy, who now and in ar sure, greater light with a multitude of saints that no mortal can
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number. in our last visit with mrs. reagan, i asked, at the end, to be alone with her. we spoke for a few moments, and then we prayed, giving thanks for life, for the love that god had brought to us, and for strength and grace for the days .head now, we all read things, but i have made a life out of trying to read human hearts. in those last moments with nancy , she was at peace. as if she was already leaning into heaven. asleep, she has fallen and awakened in the heart of god. of whatknows intimately
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the 17th century anglican priest and poet john dunn wrote in these closing words. god, at our lord, last awakening, into the , toehold and gate of heaven enter into that gate and well in that house where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light. no noise, nor silence. but one equal music. , but one nor hopes equal possession. beginnings. but one, equal in eternity. in the habitation of that glory and dominion, a world without end, amen.
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nancy.dear, may you gaze upon our lord, face to face, may angels surround you, and saints welcome you in peace, and may your heart and soul now ring out in joy to the living god, in whose presence you are held, forever. amen. now let us all join together. our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread , and forgive us our trespassers as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into
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temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory. in peace, we pray to you, lord god. almighty god who has been together thine elect in one community and fellowship in the mystical body of your son christ our lord. on earth, the highlight and eyepiece. granted all who had been baptized into christ death and and tond -- resurrection rise to newness in life that through the grave and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection. great to us still who are in our earthly pilgrimage and who walk by faith that by holy spirit may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days. grant thy faithful people part and in peace that we may be cleansed from all our sins and
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serve the with a quiet mind. grant to all who mourn a short confidence in thy fatherly care that casting on their grief on the they may know the consolation of thy love. give courage and faith to those who are believed, that they may have strength to meet the days ahead and the comfort of a reasonable and holy hope, in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those they love. help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection to life everlasting. grant us grace to interest nancy to die never failing love, receive her into the arms of thy mercy and remember her according to the favor which now embarrassed onto that people. granted increasing knowledge and love of the she may go from strength to strength and the light of perfect service in the heavenly kingdom. grant us will all live and die
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with the hope of the resurrection to have our consummation endless in thy eternal and everlasting glory and with all thy saints to receive the crown of life which abound does promise to all share in the victory of thy son jesus rated who live with and with being the holy spirit, one ever and ever. would you please rise for the commendation. give rest, o christ, to thy servant with my saved, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but life aren't ang, not only mortal of the creator and maker of mankind and we are multiple
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forms of the earth and onto earth shall we return, for so dosted or game creators thou art and onto dust shalt thou return, or we go down to the dust, yet even at the grade we make our song on the new year, hallelujah, hallelujah. give rest of christ to thy servant with by saint, for sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but life. and to thy hands are merciful savior, we commend thy child and .ervant nancy big knowledge we humbly beseech the, sheep of thine own fold, a lamb of thine own flock, a sinner of thine own redeeming, receive her into the arms of thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints
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in light, amen. almighty,ng of god the saw there, the son, and the holy spirit. more, amen. ever
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him him him >> here that raised up jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells in us. wherefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices, my flesh also rest in hope. shalt show me the life. there is pleasure furthermore.
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jesus christ,rd we commend to our almighty god our sister nancy and recommit her body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. the lord bless her and keep her, the lord make his face to shine upon her and be gracious unto her. the lord lift up his countenance upon her and give her piece, amen. amen.ce, let light officially shine upon her. may her souls and all the souls of the faithful departed to the mercy of god rest in peace. amen. and ourthe god of peace
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lord jesus christ, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well leasing in his sight and the blessing of god almighty, the father, the son, and the holy spirit, be upon you and all beloved to you this day amen.revermore, >> ♪ >> god bless america stand beside her and guide through the night with the light from above mountains
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white with foam my home, sweet home ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, all guests are invited to pay their respects at the interment site and enjoy a luncheon reception one trillion.e -- pavilion.
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