He Made A Difference

We just walked out of the movie Reagan, wiping our eyes. I am barely able to speak, for the all the familiar emotion I have carried for Regan most of my life and which right now is threatening to bust forth.

I was young and had no clue of much of anything, serving in the United States Navy under my Commander and Chief Ronald Reagan. Having stood outside in -20 degree weather on a frigid February morning, on the streets of Dixon, Illinois, on Reagan’s 73rd birthday, as he came back to tour his restored boyhood home, myself and my soon to be Navy husband, who’s boyhood home was also Dixon and where his family still resided, we were ushered by secret service to stand across from the grandstand from where he was going to speak. As Reagan drove by in the motor-cade, the two young military people, dressed in “dress blues”, the only ones among the fifty-five thousand people there that day in a town of fifteen thousand, as secret service and the Governor of Illinois  and other officials surprisingly stepped back to make those young sailors front and center. As Reagan drove past and his eyes caught the familiar Navy uniforms, he popped to attention and saluted…….ME and JEFF! It was an honor that we both cherish in our hearts.

Although I was a young brat in all honesty, already deeply affected by life, I had the honor of working and serving under people I respected. Those who had unknowingly earned my respect and had an impact on my life in some strange way. Never could we have imagined school shootings or the like and I feel so sorry for the young people today who will never be driven to tears at an unexplainable respect and devotion for someone in leadership. Someone who made a difference. I’m so thankful I’ve lived long enough to recognize and appreciate people who are so spectacular that they seek not their own, but the good of others. I hope you live long enough to know what I’m talking about.

Two great men came from Dixon Illinois that I highly respect. One had an entire nation on his shoulders and one had an ornery, young, immature, strong willed Southern girl to tame and a call to tell people about the love and rescue of Christ. They both succeeded!

Blessings

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