"Alzheimer's was too good for Reagan as far as I'm concerned" [View All]

[liberalhistorian]

I overheard this little gem just now at a local restaurant where I was having lunch and was really disgusted. Now, those of you who know me here know that I'm certainly no fan of Reagan at all, quite the contrary. I believe he did incalculable damage to the country, although he was a far better president than the current WH occupant (like that's really hard!) I absolutely hated it when he was president, as did the majority of my family.

HOWEVER. Reagan was not just a president and a politician, he was also a man and a human being. Alzheimer's is a horrible, nasty, insidious disease, a horrible way to die, and not just because it's so long and drawn-out even though that's certainly part of it. NO ONE deserves to have it and to die like that, I don't care WHO it is. And NO ONE deserves to see their spouse, parent, etc., slowly waste away from it and become a shadow of what they once were, either. NO ONE. To be the spouse, child, sibling of someone with Alzheimer's is almost as bad as suffering from the disease.

I know this personally, my stepdad has early Alzheimer's. He's only 63, but had to retire from teaching eight years earlier than normal, at the age of 57, because it was just starting then and, even though we didn't know what it was yet, he simply was not able to handle the rigorous duties his job required. Mom had to do most of his lesson plans and grading for him. The day he took my son out to a movie and couldn't remember how to get back home even though it was only ten minutes away and he'd lived there for thirty years was the day we really had to start to face reality.

He is just a wispy shadow of his former vibrant, alive, intelligent, funny self. The man who once taught Shakespeare, Yeats and Hemingway and who could argue the merits of Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald for hours at a time can no longer even understand anything he reads, even simple stuff. The man who used to write the most beautiful, thoughtful poetry and who won several poetry contests throughout the years can no longer even put two or three words together that make sense. The man who used to have a quick, improvisational sense of humor and who could make anything funny now no longer understands the simplest joke. He now has to have help to shower and dress. I could go on, but it's too depressing to even think about at times.

Yes, I agree with most of you about Reagan and I always will. But let's separate the president and politician from the man and the human being. What's truly insidious about this horrible disease is that the victim actually knows for several years what is happening to him or her and has to deal with that. I have no doubt that Reagan knew as did his family. It didn't and doesn't matter how old he was, he and his family still suffered terribly. How many times have we rightfully slammed freepers for rejoicing in the diseases/deaths of certain people? Let's not do the same thing ourselves. Let's show some humanity.