Quotes by Patti Davis

“My father never feared death. He never saw it as an ending. I dont know why Alzheimers 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.”

“[Acknowledging that the death of a former president of Reagans stature would be] a big unwieldy one -- a world event, ... grab onto the massive grief around us and go home at night to the shape of the grief inside us.”

“I thought the best thing that I could do would be to clean up my own act, in terms of whatever ... childhood wounds were left,”

“We found consistently less than one microgram of accessible lead in these vinyl lunch boxes. That is not a toxic level and it is a low level,”

“We found consistently less than one microgram of accessible lead in these vinyl lunch boxes. That is not a toxic level and it is a low level.”

To me, Ann Romney sounds like a better candidate than her husband. She put her MS into remission through horseback riding, alternative therapies, and a healthy diet. She knows how to pace herself. She has a sense of humor and an innate honesty, and her hair moves in the wind. Maybe she should run.

It takes strength to make your way through grief, to grab hold of life and let it pull you forward.

Its a tender and complicated dance, watching our parents age. We become protective in ways we never were before, and we study them with a mix of sadness and curiosity: Is this what we will be like when we are their age? We tell ourselves to be patient - just answer the same question again as if it wasnt answered a moment ago.

My father started growing very quiet as Alzheimers started claiming more of him. The early stages of Alzheimers are the hardest because that person is aware that theyre losing awareness. And I think that thats why my father started growing more and more quiet.

Its one thing to show your love for someone when everything is going fine and life is smooth. But when the in sickness and in health part kicks in and sickness does enter your lives, youre tested. Your resilience is tested.

I often imagine what it would be like if my father were still here to mark his 100th birthday, if Alzheimers hadnt clawed away years, possibilities, hopes. What would he think of all the commemorations and celebrations?