A Presidential Love Story

I first heard about this book on Good Morning America, and Charlie Gibson's descriptions of it and the excerpts he read sparked my interest enough that when my grandma asked us to return I Love You, Ronnie to the library, I hung onto it a couple days so I could read it. I finished it just moments ago.

As most of us know from the media, Ronald Reagan has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the past several years. He just celebrated his 90th birthday on February sixth. I recall him as the president in office during the first eight years of my life. As I was quite young at the time, I wasn't paying much attention to what he was doing, but I always figured he was a pretty good president. I've read the speech he delivered in the wake of the Challenger explosion and seen how eloquent he can be.

I Love You, Ronnie is two things: a memoir, written by Nancy Reagan, of her life with her husband, and a collection of the love letters which he wrote to her over a span of 50 years. These letters actually make up the majority of the book and were the primary reason for its having been written. She wrote in her introduction, "I realized how valuable the art and practice of writing letters are, and how important it is to remind people of what a treasure letters -- handwritten letters -- can be. ... If only people could see Ronnie's letters, I thought, they'd realize so much, including how wonderful it can be to take the time to write what you feel to those you love."

Ronald Reagan wrote letters to his wife Nancy constantly, for no reason at all except to tell her that he loved her. He addressed his notes by using a variety of pet names, and he had a plethora of nicknames which he used for himself. He enhanced store-bought cards with his doodles and sentiments. The depth of the love he expressed in those letters was amazing, and each letter sounds like a voyage of discovery, as though he had just fallen in love with her at that very moment. In one letter he compared their love to that between Anne and Gilbert Blythe of Anne of Green Gables, but he insisted that the fictional couple's love paled in comparison to that which he and Nancy shared. Always waxing poetic, he nonetheless repeatedly proclaimed the insufficiency of his words to express the love he felt.

This is a beautiful and poignant collection, an intimate look into the lives of Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. Unfortunately, they are increasingly the only reminder Nancy has of her husband; his mind is increasingly distant. In 1994, the former president sent America a letter explaining his diagnosis and thanking the country for the love he had been shown. He and his wife had disclosed their diseases before, and they hoped they could raise awareness of Alzheimer's in the same fashion. There is still no cure, but perhaps a breakthrough looms on the horizon. Until then, I Love You, Ronnie reminds us, as the Simon and Garfunkel song Bookends suggests, to "preserve your memories. They're all that's left you."

"I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." -- Ronald Reagan, November 5, 1994