Nancy Reagan gently kissed the American-flag draped casket of her husband of 52 years, and softly spoke words known only to her and the love of her life. It was a private moment before the public funeral of the fortieth President of the United States.
        Ronald Reagan died Saturday, June 5, 2004 at the age of 93 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He had been gone from America’s presence but not gone from Americans’ hearts.
        Thousands upon thousands had viewed his casket as Reagan lay in state at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The casket was flown to Washington, D.C. and lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where thousands upon thousands more paid their respects to this beloved figure. Among those who came was a uniformed Marine Corporal James Wright, a double amputee with no hands, who saluted the former Commander-in-Chief. 
        The casket was borne in a stately procession to the National Cathedral for national funeral services the morning of Friday, June 11, designated a National Day of Mourning by President George W. Bush, who requested flags across America be flown at half-staff. A Military Honor Guard had borne the casket with the playing of "Hail to the Chief" and a 21-gun salute in a light mist of rain.
        Dignitaries, past and present, from around the world came to honor this man who now belongs to the ages.
        Rev. John Danforth, a former U.S. Senator from Missouri, presided over the funeral at the 4,000-seat National Cathedral. Reagan had requested Rev. Billy Graham, who was unable to attend due to illness.
        The renown Irish tenor Ronan Tynan sang "Ave Maria."
        Nancy Reagan, the last of the family to be seated in the Cathedral, was escorted to President Bush, who took her arm in his and escorted her to her seat.
        A prayer was offered by Rev. Danforth.
        “Where does a person find the strength to persevere in difficult times?” asked Rabbi Harold Kushner, of Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts. “Many people find that strength in the pages of the Bible.” He quoted from Isaiah 40:31: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
        U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor read the ‘city on a hill passage’ from Pilgrim leader John Winthrop’s 1630 sermon, often referenced by Reagan in his own speeches:  “Now the only way to provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah, ‘to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God’: We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work as members of the same body. The Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us as His own people. For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword to the world.”
        Lady Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, attended the funeral in person, but had pre-recorded a personal tribute to Reagan, which was shown during the service. “We have lost a great President, a great American, and a great man,” she said. “And I have lost a dear friend. Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting, historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America’s wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism.” Referring to his recovery after having been shot during the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt, she said he believed he had been given back his life for a purpose and whatever time he had left belonged to God. “It is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan’s life was providential when we look at what he achieved in the eight years that followed,” she said. “He never succumbed to the embarrassment some people feel about an honest expression of love of country. He was able to say, ‘God, bless America’ with equal fervor in public and in private ... The world mourns the passing of ‘The Great Liberator’ and echoes his prayer, ‘God, bless America.’...We have one beacon to guide us that Ronald Reagan never had -- we have his example. Let us give thanks for a life that achieved so much for all of God’s children.”
        “Ronald Reagan was a President who inspired his nation and transformed the world,” said former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. “He possessed a rare and prized gift called leadership, that ineffable and magical quality that sets some men and women apart so that millions will follow them, as they conjure up grand visions and invite their countrymen to dream big and exciting dreams... I have been truly blessed to have been a friend of Ronald Reagan. I am grateful that our paths crossed and that our lives touched. I shall always remember him with the deepest admiration and affection, and I will always feel honored by the journey that we traveled together in search of better and more peaceful tomorrows for all of God’s children everywhere....I say au revoir today to a gifted leader, historic President, and a gracious human being, and I do so with a line from Yeats, who wrote, "Think where man’s glory most begins and ends. And say my glory was that I had such friends.”
        Former President George Herbert Walker Bush spoke fondly of the man under whom he had served as Vice President for eight years before being elected President himself. “When Franklin Roosevelt died, in 1945,” Bush said, “The New York Times wrote, 'Men will thank God 100 years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House.' It will not take 100 years to thank God for Ronald Reagan. But why? Why was he so admired? Why was he so beloved? He was beloved first because of what he was. Politics can be cruel, uncivil. Our friend was strong and gentle. Once, he called America ‘hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent, and fair.’ That was America, and, yes, our friend. Next, Ronald Reagan was beloved because of what he believed. He believed in America, so he made it his ‘shining city on a hill.’ He believed in freedom, so he acted on behalf of its values and ideals. He believed in tomorrow, so ‘The Great Communicator’ became ‘The Great Liberator.’ He talked of ‘winning one for the Gipper’, and, as President, through his relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev, with us today, the Gipper and, yes, Mikhail Gorbachev, won one for peace around the world. 
        “If Ronald Reagan created a better world for many millions, it was because of the world someone else created for him. Nancy was there for him always. Her love for him provided much of his strength, and their love together transformed all of us. One of the many memories we all have of both of them is the comfort they provided during our national tragedies. Whether it was the families of the crew of the Challenger Shuttle or the USS Stark or the Marines killed in Beirut, we will never forget those images of the President and First Lady embracing them and embracing us during times of sorrow. So, Nancy, I want to say this to you, today: America embraces you. We open up our arms. We seek to comfort you, to tell you of our admiration for your courage and your selfless caring. And to the Reagan kids, Michael, Ron, Patti, all of our sympathy, all of our condolences to you all. And we remember, too, your sister Maureen, home safe now with her father. 
        “As his Vice President for eight years, I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all of my years of public life. I learned kindness. We all did. I also learned courage. The nation did. Who can forget the horrible day in March in 1981. He looked at the doctors in the emergency room and said, ‘I hope you’re all Republicans.’ I learned decency. The whole world did. Days after being shot, weak from wounds, he spilled water from a sink, and, entering the hospital room, aides saw him on his hands and knees, wiping water from the floor. He worried that his nurse would get in trouble. The Good Book says humility goes before honor, and our friend had both. And who could not cherish such a man? I learned a lot about humor, a lot about laughter. Oh, how President Reagan loved a good story. When asked, ‘How did your visit go with Bishop Tutu?’ he replied, ‘So so.’  In leaving the White House, the very last day, he left in the yard, outside the Oval Office door, a little sign for the squirrels. He loved to feed those squirrels, and he left this sign that said, ‘Beware of the dog.’ To no avail, because our dog, Millie, came in and beat the heck out of the squirrels.
        “He left me a note that said, ‘Don’t let the turkeys get you down.’ He certainly never let them get him down. And he fought hard for his beliefs. He led from conviction but never made an adversary into an enemy. He was never mean-spirited. 
        “Rev. Billy Graham, whom I refer to as the nation’s Pastor, is now hospitalized and regrets that he can’t be here today. I asked him for a Bible passage that might be appropriate. He suggested this from Psalm 37: 'The Lord delights in the way of the man whose steps He has made firm. Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.' And then this too from Psalm 37: 'There is a future for the man of peace.' God bless you, Ronald Wilson Reagan, and the nation you loved and led so well.”
        President George W. Bush then delivered the eulogy for Reagan. “We lost Ronald Reagan only days ago, but we have missed him for a long time,” he said. “We have missed his kindly presence, that reassuring voice, and the happy ending we had wished for him. It has been ten years since he said his own farewell, yet it is still very sad and hard to let him go. Ronald Reagan belongs to the ages now, but we preferred it when he belonged to us.
        “In a life of good fortune, he valued above all the gracious gift of his wife, Nancy. During his career, Ronald Reagan passed through a thousand crowded places, but there was only one person, he said, who could make him lonely by just leaving the room. America honors you, Nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful journey, and to that journey’s end. Today, our whole nation grieves with you and your family.
        “When the sun sets tonight off the coast of California, and we lay to rest our 40th President, a great American story will close. The second son of Nelle and Jack Reagan first knew the world as a place of open plains, quiet streets, gas-lit rooms, and carriages drawn by horse. If you could go back to the Dixon, Illinois of 1922, you’d find a boy of 11 reading adventure stories at the public library, or running with his brother, Neil, along Rock River, and coming home to a little house on Hennepin Avenue. That town was the kind of place you remember where you prayed side by side with your neighbors, and, if things were going wrong for them, you prayed for them, and knew they’d pray for you if things went wrong for you.
        “The Reagan family would see its share of hardship, struggle, and uncertainty. And, out of that circumstance, came a young man of steadiness, calm, and a cheerful confidence that life would bring good things. The qualities all of us have seen in Ronald Reagan were first spotted 70 and 80 years ago. As a lifeguard in Lowell Park, he was the protector, keeping an eye out for trouble. As a sports announcer on the radio, he was the friendly voice that made you see the game as he did. As an actor, he was the handsome, all-American good guy, which, in his case, required knowing his lines — and being himself.
        “Along the way, certain convictions were formed and fixed in the man. Ronald Reagan believed that everything happened for a reason, and that we should strive to know and do the will of God. He believed that the gentleman always does the kindest thing. He believed that people were basically good, and had the right to be free. He believed that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be guilty of. He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer. He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the hope of the world.
        “And he believed in taking a break now and then, because, as he said, there’s nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.
        “Ronald Reagan spent decades in the film industry and in politics, fields known, on occasion, to change a man -- but not this man. From Dixon to Des Moines to Hollywood to Sacramento to Washington, D.C., all who met him remembered the same sincere, honest, upright fellow. Ronald Reagan’s deepest beliefs never had much to do with fashion or convenience. His convictions were always politely stated, affably argued, and as firm and straight as the columns of this cathedral.
        “There came a point in Ronald Reagan’s film career when people started seeing a future beyond the movies. The actor Robert Cummings recalled one occasion. ‘I was sitting around the set with all these people, and we were listening to Ronnie, quite absorbed. I said, ‘Ron, have you ever considered someday becoming President?’ He said, ‘President of what?’ ‘President of the United States,’ I said. And he said, ‘What’s the matter, don’t you like my acting either?’
        “The clarity and intensity of Ronald Reagan’s convictions led to speaking engagements around the country, and a new following he did not seek or expect. He often began his speeches by saying, ‘I’m going to talk about controversial things.’ And then he spoke of communist rulers as slavemasters, of a government in Washington that had far overstepped its proper limits, of a time for choosing that was drawing near. In the space of a few years, he took ideas and principles that were mainly found in journals and books, and turned them into a broad, hopeful movement ready to govern.
        “As soon as Ronald Reagan became California’s Governor, observers saw a star in the West — tanned, well-tailored, in command, and on his way. In the 1960s, his friend Bill Buckley wrote, ‘Reagan is indisputably a part of America, and he may become a part of American history.’
        “Ronald Reagan’s moment arrived in 1980. He came out ahead of some very good men, including one from Plains, and one from Houston. What followed was one of the decisive decades of the century, as the convictions that shaped the President began to shape the times.
        “He came to office with great hopes for America, and more than hopes — like the President he had revered and once saw in person, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan matched an optimistic temperament with bold, persistent action. President Reagan was optimistic about the great promise of economic reform, and he acted to restore the reward and spirit of enterprise. He was optimistic that a strong America could advance the peace, and he acted to build the strength that mission required. He was optimistic that liberty would thrive wherever it was planted, and he acted to defend liberty wherever it was threatened.
        “And Ronald Reagan believed in the power of truth in the conduct of world affairs. When he saw evil camped across the horizon, he called that evil by its name. There were no doubters in the prisons and gulags, where dissidents spread the news, tapping to each other in code what the American President had dared to say. There were no doubters in the shipyards and churches and secret labor meetings, where brave men and women began to hear the creaking and rumbling of a collapsing empire. And there were no doubters among those who swung hammers at the hated wall as the first and hardest blow had been struck by President Ronald Reagan.
        “The ideology he opposed throughout his political life insisted that history was moved by impersonal ties and unalterable fates. Ronald Reagan believed instead in the courage and triumph of free men. And we believe it, all the more, because we saw that courage in him.
        “As he showed what a President should be, he also showed us what a man should be. Ronald Reagan carried himself, even in the most powerful office, with a decency and attention to small kindnesses that also defined a good life. He was a courtly, gentle, and considerate man, never known to slight or embarrass others. Many people across the country cherish letters he wrote in his own hand — to family members on important occasions, to old friends dealing with sickness and loss, to strangers with questions about his days in Hollywood. A boy once wrote to him requesting federal assistance to help clean up his bedroom. The President replied that, ‘unfortunately, funds are dangerously low.’ He continued, ‘I’m sure your mother was fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster. Therefore, you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer program in our nation. Congratulations.’
        “Sure, our 40th President wore his title lightly, and it fit like a white Stetson. In the end, through his belief in our country and his love for our country, he became an enduring symbol of our country. We think of his steady stride, that tilt of a head and snap of a salute, the big-screen smile, and the glint in his Irish eyes when a story came to mind.
        “We think of a man advancing in years with the sweetness and sincerity of a Scout saying the Pledge. We think of that grave expression that sometimes came over his face, the seriousness of a man angered by injustice — and frightened by nothing. We know, as he always said, that America’s best days are ahead of us, but, with Ronald Reagan’s passing, some very fine days are behind us, and that is worth our tears.
        “Americans saw death approach Ronald Reagan twice, in a moment of violence, and then in the years of departing light. He met both with courage and grace. In these trials, he showed how a man so enchanted by life can be at peace with life’s end.
        “And where does that strength come from? Where is that courage learned? It is the faith of a boy who read the Bible with his mom. It is the faith of a man lying in an operating room, who prayed for the one who shot him before he prayed for himself. It is the faith of a man with a fearful illness, who waited on the Lord to call him home.
        “Now, death has done all that death can do. And as Ronald Wilson Reagan goes his way, we are left with the joyful hope he shared. In his last years, he saw through a glass darkly. Now he sees his Saviour face to face.
        “And we look for that fine day when we will see him again, all weariness gone, clear of mind, strong and sure, and smiling again, and the sorrow of his parting gone forever.
        “May God bless Ronald Reagan, and the country he loved.”
        "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was then sung by a choir, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Catholic Archbishop of Washington, read from the Gospel of Matthew. “Jesus said, ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it under the bushel basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’”
        “May I speak in the name of one God who created us, who redeemed us, who comforts us, Amen,” said Rev. Danforth. “This is a service about Ronald Reagan, and it is a religious service. We’ve gathered to celebrate the life of a great President in a church where believers profess their faith. So this is not only about a person, but about faith, and a homily is the place to connect the two. For President Reagan, the text is obvious -- it’s from The Sermon on the Mount. 'You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.' It was his favorite theme from his first Inaugural Address to his final address from the Oval Office. For him, America was the shining city on a hill. .....Winthrop believed that the eyes of the world would be on America, because God had given us a special commission. So it was our duty to shine forth. The Winthrop message became the Reagan message.......We must champion freedom everywhere. We must be the beacon for the world.....If ever we have known a child of light, it was Ronald Reagan. He was aglow with it....He shined the light, but not upon himself...”
        The Irish tenor Ronan Tynan sang "Amazing Grace," a personal favorite of Reagan’s, then all in the congregation spoke "The Model Prayer," and a prayer was offered by Bishop Theodore Eastman of the Washington National Cathedral.
        Reagan’s casket was borne out of the Cathedral to Hail to the Chief and then "God, Bless America." 
        The bells of the National Cathedral, simultaneously with the bells of churches from across America, tolled 40 times, as requested by Reagan’s family, in honor of Reagan’s service as our nation’s 40th President.
        The procession made its way to Andrews Air Force Base, and Hail to the Chief was played during a 21-gun salute. The song "Going Home" was played as Reagan’s casket was boarded onto the 747 which has flown as Air Force One.
        Nancy Reagan then walked the steps to board the plane. Before entering, she turned toward the teary-eyed crowd that had gathered in the misting rain to bid farewell to their First Lady and to wish her well. She waved to them all and blew a kiss, removed her eyeglasses, and waved again for a final goodbye.
        Reagan was buried at sunset in his beloved California, on the western slopes of the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, in a private ceremony following the final public service honoring him, a service held atop a hill overlooking the mountains just outside the Library.
        Thousands had lined the streets along the route from the naval air station to the Presidential Library to pay their respects to the cortege as the hearse bore Reagan’s casket.
        "Hail to the Chief" was played as his casket was carried by a military Honor Guard.
        Rev. Michael Wenning, of Bel Air Presbyterian Church, the Reagans’ church, offered the invocation.
        "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was sung and played by the U.S. Air Force Band and Chorus.
        Michael Reagan, President Reagan’s oldest son adopted during his first marriage to Jane Wyman, addressed the 700 in attendance and millions more, as the service was televised, and offered words about his late father. “You knew my father as Governor, as President, but I knew him as Dad,” he said. “I want to tell you a little about my Dad, a little about Cameron and Ashley’s grandfather, because not a whole lot is ever spoken about that side of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan adopted me into his family in 1945. I was the chosen one. I was the lucky one. In all of his years, he never mentioned that I was adopted, either behind my back or in front of me. I was his son, Michael Edward Reagan. When his family grew to be two families, he didn’t walk away from the one to go to the other, but be became a father to both -- to Patti and Ron but always to Maureen, my sister, and myself. We looked forward to those Saturday mornings when he would pick us up, sitting on the curb on Beverly Glen. As his car would turn the corner from Sunset Boulevard, we would get in and ride to the ranch and play games, and he would always make sure it ended up a tie. We would swim and we would ride horses or we would just watch him cut firewood. We would be in awe of our father. As years went by, and I became older and found the woman I would marry, Colleen, he sent me a letter about marriage, and how important it was to be faithful to the woman you love, with a p.s.: You’ll never get in trouble if you say, ‘I love you’ at least once a day. And I’m sure he told Nancy every day, ‘I love you’, as I tell Colleen. 
        “He also sent letters to his grandchildren. He wasn’t able to be the grandfather that many of you are able to be because of the job that he had, and so, he would write letters. He sent one letter to Cameron that said, 'Cameron, some guy got $10,000 for my signature. Maybe this letter will help you pay for your college education.' And then he signed it, Grandpa. P.S. Your Grandpa is the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan....'
        “At the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, my father and I would tell each other we loved each other, and we’d give each other a hug. As the years went by, and he could no longer verbalize my name, he recognized me as the man who hugged him. And so, when I would walk into the house, he would be there in his chair, opening up his arms for that hug hello and a hug goodbye. It was a blessing truly brought on by God. We had wonderful blessings of that nature, wonderful, wonderful blessings that my father gave to me each and every day of my life. I was so proud to have the Reagan name and to be Ronald Reagan’s son. What a great honor. 
        “He gave me a lot of gifts as a child. He gave me a horse. He gave me a car. He gave me a lot of things. But there is a gift he gave me that I think is wonderful for every father to give every son. Last Saturday, my father opened his eyes for the last time and visualized Nancy and gave her such a wonderful, wonderful gift. When he closed his eyes, that’s when I realized the gift that he gave to me--the gift that he was going to be with his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Back in 1988, on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Point Mugu, he had told me of his love for God, his love for Christ as his Saviour. I didn’t know then what it all meant, but I certainly, certainly know now. I can’t think of a better gift for a father to give a son, and I hope to honor my father by giving my son, Cameron, and my daughter, Ashley, that very same gift he gave to me--knowing where he is this very moment, this very day, that he is in heaven. And I can only promise my father this: Dad, when I go, I will go to heaven, too, and you and I and my sister, Maureen, that went before us, will dance with the heavenly host of angels before the presence of God, and we will do it melanoma and Alzheimer’s free. Thank you for letting me share my father, Ronald Wilson Reagan.”
        “Many years ago, my father decided to write down his reflections about death, specifically his own, and how he would want people to feel about it,” spoke Patti Davis, Reagan’s youngest daughter. “He chose to write the first verse of an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, "Crossing the Bar," and then he decided to add a couple of lines of his own. Tennyson wrote, "Sunset and evening star in one clear call for me, and may there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to sea." My father added, 'We have God’s promise that I have gone on to a better world where there is no pain or sorrow. Bring comfort to those who may mourn my going.'
        “My father never feared death. He never saw it as an ending. When I was a child, he took me out into a field at our ranch after one of the Malibu fires had swept through. I was very small, and the field looked huge and lifeless. But he bent down and showed me how tiny new green shoots were peaking out of the ashes, just weeks after the fire had come through. ‘You see,’ he said, ‘new life always comes out of death. It looks like nothing could ever grow in this field again, but things do.’
        “He was the one who generously offered funeral services for my gold fish on the morning of its demise. We went out into the garden, and we dug a tiny grave with a teaspoon, and he took two twigs and lashed them together with twine and formed a cross as a marker for the grave. And then he gave a beautiful eulogy. He told me that my fish was swimming in the clear blue waters in heaven and he would never tire and he would never get hungry and he would never be in danger and he could swim as far and wide as he wanted and he never had to stop, because the river went on forever. He was free. When we went back inside and I looked at my remaining goldfish in their aquarium and their pink plastic castle and their colored rocks, I suggested that perhaps we should kill the others so they could also go to that clear blue river and be free. He patiently explained to me that, in God’s time, the other fish would go there, as well.  In God’s time, we would all be taken home. Even though it sometimes seemed a mystery, we were asked to trust that God’s time was right and wise.
        “I don’t know why Alzheimer’s was allowed to steal so much of my father before releasing him into the arms of death. But I know that, at his last moment, when he opened his eyes, eyes that had not opened for many, many days, and looked at my mother, he showed us that neither disease nor death can conquer love.
        “He may have, in his lifetime, come across a small book called Peace of Mind. If he did, I think he would have been struck by these lines: 'Then for each one of us, the moment comes when the great nurse, death, takes man, the child, by the hand and quietly says, ‘It’s time to go home. Night is coming. It is your bedtime, child of earth.' "
        Ron Reagan, President Reagan’s youngest son, embraced his sister and then touched his father’s casket before addressing the audience. “He is home now,” he said. “He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, 'I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.' This evening, he has arrived. History will record his worth as a leader. We, here, have long since measured his worth as a man. Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave, he was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet. He used to say, ‘A gentleman always does the kind thing.’ He was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word -- a gentle man. As big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. As powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference. Dad treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy, acknowledging the innate dignity in us all. The idea that all people are created equal was more than mere words on a page -- it was how he lived his life. And he lived a good, long life, the kind of life good men lead...
        “Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. After he was shot and nearly killed early in his Presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good.
        “And so, he is home. He is free. Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath the blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. Flowing from years long past, a river will wind toward the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare he calls Nancy D. They will sail over jumps he has built with his own hands. He will let the river carry him over the shining stones. He will rest in the shade of the trees. Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But we will join him soon enough -- all of us, when we are home, when we are free.”
        Rev. Danforth read from the Twenty Third Psalm.
        "The National Anthem" was sung and played by the U.S. Air Force Band and Chorus.
        "Amazing Grace" was played by a bagpiper as Reagan’s casket was carried to a pedestal, with the family following.
        “It is a wonderful, awesome responsibility for me to be able to give these final parting words on this long journey of this week of sadness,” said Rev. Wenning, the Reagans’ Pastor. “I want to thank you for the privilege of being your Pastor and chaplain to the President...
        “Dear Nancy, thank you for bearing your grief so nobly. Thank you for the dignity that you have shown this week. Our hearts have gone out to you. So many people have commented on the picture where you and I are together as we began this week, and I think the reason for its poignancy was that the whole American nation was putting its arm around you. We love you and care for you.
        “Thank you for caring for the President in his declining years. Thank you for the wonderful example of your marriage that you modeled throughout your life together and especially in the White House years. Yours was truly a glorious friendship based on mutual love and respect. And we love you for it and thank you for it.
        “To you, Michael and Patti and Ron, thank you for those very, very touching and moving words, a little humor but the heartfelt love of children who love their father and respect him so much. We gathered at the beginning of this long day at the National Cathedral, and we heard the wonderful words from the nation’s leaders and also from a beloved friend. I have never heard Lady Margaret Thatcher speak more eloquently in all her life. The last time I heard her speak, I had the privilege of being present as she was awarded the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, and I remember her saying particularly, ‘When Ronnie spoke about the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire, even I blanched.’ Thank God that neither she nor your husband shirked in the face of communism, but saw its demise.
        “He touched us all. When I went back to the land where I was born in South Africa, I went to see my aging father. As I sat in his study, he pointed to a huge picture behind me, framed. It was of your husband, and he said, ‘This is my President.’ Ten thousand miles away, he identified, as we all do, and shall do through time to come. 
        “It now remains for me to talk about the man and his faith. Indeed, he was a gift from God to us all. He made us feel good and confident about ourselves, about our country, and about our future. And I believe it is because he gained his confidence from Psalm 46, where the Psalmist says, 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' When you attended church, so many people noticed that he could sing the hymns without looking at the hymnal. He loved hymns, and it was appropriate that it was sung in the Cathedral this morning and played on the bagpipes this evening, that hymn that speaks about God’s amazing grace. And Ronald Reagan knew of the grace of his Lord Jesus Christ, for he lived with and in that grace. I think of one particular stanza of that hymn that says, 'Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come, ‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.' Grace has led him home this day. He was a man who exhibited graciousness with all that he met, from the highest in the land to the lowliest...The gentleness, the kindess, the love, the gifts, the fruit of the Holy Spirit was deeply embedded in his d.n.a.
        “As Ron said, in 1994, he wrote that letter saying, 'I now begin the journey....into the sunset of my life.' But I believe that, last Saturday, he began a new journey into the glorious presence of Almighty God, and he is basking in the sunshine of His love. And I believe that he is touching the face of God, as he said during the Challenger disaster. And the Lord is saying to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’
        “In the ancient nation of Israel, when the temple had been built, the Lord appeared to King Solomon and said to him these words: 'If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.'
        “God was reminding his ancient people that the glory of the nation was not in power or prestige, in wealth or in might. Ronald Reagan knew that as a cardinal truth, that ultimately our strength is not in our might but it is as we depend upon Almighty God and trust in Him and walk humbly before God. Ronald Reagan lived and believed that, and thank God that he did.”
        Turning to the casket, with his hand over his heart, he concluded, “Mr. President, I salute you.”
        He then embraced Nancy Reagan.
        As the sun set, a 21-gun salute echoed over the hills.
        Rev. Wenning delivered the benediction, and a bugler played "Taps."
        Four F-18’s from the nearby naval air station flew over the service in missing-man formation.
        As "America, the Beautiful" was played, the American Flag was removed from Reagan’s casket, folded into a triangle, and presented to his widow.
        Nancy Reagan slowly approached the casket a final time, placed the folded flag atop the casket, rubbed her right hand gently across the casket, and laid her head upon it. “I love you,” she softly spoke, with tears in her eyes. Ron, Patti, and Michael then came to comfort her. She kissed the casket in a final farewell and clung dearly to the Flag that had draped her husband’s coffin.
        "God, Bless America" then played as family and other mourners came to the casket to pay their respects to President Reagan, and the sun set for his final day on earth.

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