I started to write this column last fall, but chose to put it aside because I thought
it was too personal. However, as I was watching Larry King’s birthday tribute for
Ronald Reagan’s 88th birthday on February 6, 1999, I decided to return to
it. I listened to Nancy and Maureen Reagan talk about the effect that Alzheimer’s is
having on both he and his family. They acted happy and spoke positively, as Ronald Reagan
would want them to do; but, from my own experience, I could see hurt and anguish in their
eyes. It is the look that comes from seeing a loved one’s personality disappear
before your eyes.
***
It is a cloudy fall day with a strong wind blowing the leaves off the tree. While it is
still warm, a slight chill is in the air. It is warning of the cold, rainy weather that is
on its way, signaling the beginning of another cold winter. Fall is a time for celebration
of harvest and the greatest event of the fall, the World Series. These are happy events,
but it is bittersweet for me today because my thoughts have turned to the memories of my
grandfather.
A good share of my childhood was spent with my grandfather. He was my biggest fan and
one of my closest friends. One of our shared passions was the game of baseball. We spent
hours playing catch. If the weather was too bad to go outside or we were watching a
baseball game on TV, we sat across the living room from each other and tossed a ball back
and forth. Almost every October, I would be "struck" with a sudden illness right
when the baseball playoffs and World Series happened to have a game on a week day
afternoon. Of course, this required me to stay home from school and have Grandpa
"take care of me."
Most every Friday night as a child, my grandparents would come to my family’s
house. We would spend the evening together. Grandpa brought his fiddle, and my brother and
I would join him with ours while my mother or grandmother played the piano. My father
occasionally sang with us, but usually just listened. It might be after fifteen minutes or
it might be three hours; but when my grandfather started playing the old hymn Jesus I
Come, we knew that he was ready to go home. When he finished, he would say to my
grandmother, "Sis, it is time to go home." There would be no persuading him to
play another song or even stay a while. He was going home.
Those are wonderful memories to me, but the reality of life also leaves bitter memories
of what happens as a person passes into the autumn of life. Grandpa and I had a regular
ritual of driving into the little town of Hickman and stopping at the local garage where
he would talk for a few minutes with all the other old farmers. Then, we accomplished the
task we came for -- to get us each a bottle of pop.
One day, as we started home, Grandpa couldn’t remember where he was or what he was
doing. I had to take the wheel and steer him the three miles home. I think I was 12 at the
time. It wasn’t long before I was taking care of him instead of his taking care of
me. The long, slow decline of Alzheimer’s disease eventually took his life.
I cannot begin to speculate the amount of agony that he suffered. I do know that is
extremely difficult for friends and family to watch a loved one’s memory and
personality disappear before their eyes.
At Grandpa’s funeral, my brother and I played the song that had always been his
call to go home. The words of the song passed through my mind that day as I played. They
still bring a tear to my eye when I play or hear the song today.
Out of the bondage, sorrow and night
Jesus I come, Jesus I come.
Into the freedom gladness and light,
Jesus I come to thee.
Out of my sickness into thy health,
Out of my want and into they wealth.
Out of my sin and into thyself
Jesus I come to Thee.
My grandfather was a common man. He wasn’t rich, and he never did a heroic act
that a history book would record. In fact, he was a man that had gone through some
terribly hard times and failures as a sharecropper during the Depression. Besides all
well-documented hardships of the era, he had one particular disaster that happened to him.
One day, when everyone was gone, his herd of milk cows got out of their pen and into
the alfalfa field. As any farmer knows, eating green alfalfa can cause bloating and death,
if the cows eat too much. That is exactly what happened. When they returned home, every
cow was dead. That would have been enough to cause many a man to have thrown up his hands
and give up, but Grandpa stuck it out with the faith of Job and made it through his
darkest hour.
Grandpa wasn’t a man of perfect character. I could tell of foibles he had. But, as
most of the common men making this nation great, his strong belief in God and his desire
to strive for goodness saw him through his troubles and overshadowed his faults.
It is the desire to seek goodness and do your best that Grandpa shared with Ronald
Reagan, a common man who achieved greatness. When Ronald Reagan took over the presidency,
the citizens of the United States were in a state of despair. They were losing belief in
themselves. They questioned our goodness and our ability to achieve great things because
of the turmoil of Vietnam and Watergate.
Four years before, the nation had turned to Jimmy Carter (a man of good character) in
hopes of restoring the nation’s character and confidence. Unfortunately, Carter
proved incapable of being a strong leader. Carter summed up the state of things when he
said, "We are in a malaise."
Ronald Reagan’s eloquent expression of optimism and hope for the people of the
United States was the medicine the nation needed. It swept him to victory and resulted in
rejuvenating the American spirit.
The "Great Communicator" was the unofficial title bestowed on Reagan. Reagan
was great because he understood and shared the beliefs and values of common men like my
grandfather. It was for this reason that many cultural elites (who try to run the country)
had such hatred for Reagan. Reagan instinctively understood the heart and soul of the
American people. This is illustrated by his own explanation of his great ability to
inspire people to greatness through his words.
Reagan’s first job that required speaking ability was a sports broadcaster for WHO
Radio in Des Moines, Iowa during the 1930's. Reagan wasn’t confident and struggled
when he first started to speak on the radio. Then, he came to the simplest, yet profound,
key to success. He remembered his buddies in the barbershop who always had the radio
playing. He started talking to them just as he would when he was sitting in the barber
chair, chatting and joking about common, everyday happenings. Reagan described the lesson
he learned that day when he said:
I learned the fundamental rule of public speaking, whether on the radio, on television,
or to a live crowd: Talk to your audience, not over their heads or through them.
Don’t try to talk in a special language of broadcasting or even politics, just use
normal everyday words. Since those early days on radio, I have given more speeches than I
ever dreamed; but, I have never lost that vision of the fellows in the barber shop,
sitting around listening to the radio.
I believe it is no accident that Ronald Reagan’s beliefs (shared with common men
like my grandfather) and his ability to communicate their values and dreams provided the
confidence, character and vision that led to victory in the Cold War and the creation of
the technological revolution. It is still giving this country the greatest economic
prosperity in the entire history of the world -- interrupted only slightly for six months
in 1991.
I am upset and embarrassed when most of the people in this country seem to stand behind
Bill Clinton. It does create a serious danger to the future of our country when we are
willing to let the President get away with being a morally degenerate criminal. However,
the American people’s apathy over Bill Clinton could very well be a positive legacy
of Ronald Reagan’s message that the strength of individual people is what makes
America great. People are going about their lives and really don’t care what is going
on in Washington. The Federal Government isn’t what defines their lives.
Bill Clinton’s success could have many dangers for America, but at the heart of it
is his vision and message for individual Americans. He doesn’t inspire people to
greatness of achievement and virtue. Bill Clinton’s message is that we are all evil,
but we shouldn’t worry about it. We should just accept it and be happy, rather than
trying to overcome our foibles and seek greatness.
My grandfather was a great student of nature. He could tell you the name of every
plant, animal or bird. A couple of days ago, I had the good fortune of seeing something
that would have brought joy to his heart. Along the Missouri River, right off I-80 on the
Council Bluffs side of the river in the midst of the sounds of the city, I saw our great
American symbol of freedom -- a bald eagle soaring overhead. It was the closest I had ever
been to one of these great birds. As I watched it soar so high, I could barely see it
anymore. I came to the conclusion that we cannot allow Bill Clinton’s vision of
America to become the nation’s vision, if we are to remain a great nation. If so, our
nation will pass into the twilight of life, just as the horror of Alzheimer’s did to
my grandfather and Ronald Reagan.
As a people, we must continue with the vision and values of common men like my
grandfather that were so eloquently articulated by Ronald Reagan, instead of Bill
Clinton’s narrow vision of comfort and contentment with our lowest aspirations.
Devote your life to living a good, moral life that seeks to achieve the highest ideals. Be
sure to instill those in your children for future generations. Speak out and engage in the
battle for greatness in your communities. Make it known at the ballot box that we want
politicians who challenge us to soar with the eagles to the heights of Heaven rather than
lower us to the depths of Dante’s Inferno.
