By Floyd and Mary Beth Brown,Western Center for Journalism
“Christmas has always been a very special day for as long back as I can remember,”Ronald Reagan once reminisced,writing in a letter. “Maybe this was due to my mother and her joyous spirit about the day.”
Although President Reagan could have spent his White House Christmases with family at his beloved ranch in Santa Barbara,Calif.,he instead stayed in Washington,D.C. This way,his sacrifice allowed Secret Service agents and other aides to spend Christmas at home with their families. He was a thoughtful person.
Reagan grew up in a desperately poor family. His father was a shoe sales clerk who had trouble keeping a job,partly because he was an alcoholic. “There were very few decorated trees in the years of my growing up,Reagan said when recalling his childhood. But never defeated,my mother would with ribbon and crepe paper decorate a table or create a cardboard fireplace out of a packing box. And she always remembered whose birthday it was and made sure we knew the meaning of Christmas.”
His mother Nelle was an optimistic Christian woman who always looked for the positive side in every situation. President Reagan explained,no matter how bad things were for their family,his mother was always finding someone worse off than them. Reagan’s most vivid early memory of his mother was of her taking a covered dish to a needy family. Nelle was always gladly helping others.
Perhaps those lean years are one reason why Ronald Reagan once said a particular Christmas gift was especially memorable for him,calling it “a gift truly in keeping with the spirit of the day. It became his favorite gift. His older brother,Neil,gave it to him after struggling to find a suitable gift for his brother. At the time,they both were middle-aged adults with successful careers.
Neil solved his dilemma by writing a letter. In the letter,Neil told his brother he had found a truly needy family with small children “who wouldn’t go to bed with dreams of Santa Claus in their head.”Ronald Reagan recounted how his brother Neil changed that and “became Santa himself,providing a Christmas from tree to turkey plus toys and gifts for all.”Included in Neil’s letter was a very detailed,blow-by-blow account,describing the “joy of the children and the grateful happiness of their mother.”
This act of charitable giving by Neil reads like the ending of Charles Dickens’“A Christmas Carol,”thus becoming President Reagan’s most unforgettable Christmas gift. He called it “a gift that will never grow old,”as he enjoyed re-reading the letter and thinking about the family’s reaction to Neil’s generosity.
Helping and serving others gives true joy and happiness,not only to the recipient,but even more so to the giver. Maybe Neil’s gift was particularly touching to Reagan because he knew what it was like to go without. Today,there are still families out there who are in difficult circumstances,facing a bleak Christmas. A gift like Neil’s may be the perfect gift for you to give to that someone in your life who has everything. Your church or locally based charities such as the Salvation Army are aware of needy families. You could make a difference and receive special Christmas joy by giving to a family who has hit hard times. Then,write a letter similar to Neil’s describing the family’s reactions,and give it as a gift. This is the true spirit of Christmas.
While speaking to the nation on Christmas Eve 1984,President Reagan said families and friends across America will join together in caroling parties and Christmas Eve services. Together,he said imparting his usual optimism,we’ll renew that spirit of faith,peace,and giving which has always marked the character of our people.
At the end of his tale,Dickens writes,“it was always said of [Scrooge],that he knew how to keep Christmas well,if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May this be said of all of us. And so,as Tiny Tim observed,God bless Us,Every One!”
Merry Christmas from all of us at Expose Obama!
Mary Beth and Floyd I want to thank you for sharing such a great story about such a great man. When I became old enough to vote Ronald Reagan was the man I voted for President of the United States of America. I have never ever regretted making that vote for my first ever presidential vote. Reagan was a very honorable man with very honorable characteristics that we cannot find in a leader today. If we only had someone anyone who could fill his shoes our country would be what it used to be a God fearing and caring about others again. I pray everyday for a leader such as Reagan to bring our country back to worshiping God and his son our Savior and Lord Jesus the Christ.
God Bless and Merry Christmas
Walt
oh yes he was such a wonderful and honorable man…do god fearing men suppy aide and arms to iraq and saddam huissain,ignoring the fact that that man is killing hundreds of thousands of his own peope with chemical warfare…yep that is a really great man…
td
Mary Beth and Floyd I want to thank you for sharing such a great story about such a great man. When I became old enough to vote Ronald Reagan was the man I voted for President of the United States of America. I have never ever regretted making that vote for my first ever presidential vote. Reagan was a very honorable man with very honorable characteristics that we cannot find in a leader today. If we only had someone anyone who could fill his shoes our country would be what it used to be a God fearing and caring about others again. I pray everyday for a leader such as Reagan to bring our country back to worshiping God and his son our Savior and Lord Jesus the Christ.
This is a wonderful story,reminding us of what a wonderful,understanding,and thoughtful man Ronald Reagan was. We may never see another like him. Now,we now have a Marxist,Muslim,president,who more than likely is not an American citizen, From the man who called America "a shining city on the hill",to a man who hates America,we have dropped a long way.
This Story brings tears to me and grieves me in MY SPIRIT to just think what we have in the White House now in compared to Ronald Reagan I have never Cried and PRAYED so much as I have since this evil marxists communists dictator muslim boy has went in the office of President What a change even from President Bush who if he was in there now things would not be the way they are I just wonder why these that put him in cannot see this or they do not want to see where this nut is taking us OUR CONSTITUTION IS AT STAKE CAN THEY NOT SEE THIS
PLEASE EVERYONE GET BEHIND FLOYD BROWN WITH SIGNATURES AND FINANCES TO GET THIE EVIL BOY BACK TO KENYA OR IN JAIL FOR TREASON
ALSO GO TO YOU TUBE AND LOOK AT FEMA CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND YOU WILL SEE ABOUT MARSHALL LAW AND LOOK AT ALL THE FAMILY CASKETS IN THERE ALSO LOOK AT THE GULLOTINES WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING IN THERE COULD IT BE HE WILL TRY TO PUT ALL WHO OPPOSES OBAMA IN THERE???????????????????????????
YOU PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR OBAMA WHEN OBAMA AND BERNANKE DOES AWAY WITH DOLLAR YOU WILL BE EFFECTED JUST LIKE ME
The thoughtful and considerate actions of the late great President Ronald W. Reagan stand in the starkest of contrasts to the thoughtless and selfish actions of the current occupant of OUR White House (I flatly refuse to call him "President"). The entity that currently occupies (as a squatter) the Presidential Chair and Residence has nothing but contempt for America,her traditions,her heritage and her institutions–including the Secret Service.
Reagan's letter was a wonderful story! I don't even want to think about BHO
during this holy and beautiful season.
We will see how the trial goes in Jan with Judge Carter. Please everybody
pray for this good Judge.
This is a great story. It is thinks such as this that built my respect for President Regan. And this is how I became a Regan Democrat.
John R Thank you for taking a stand for moral and values Please pass the word around to your democrat Friends and get them to back Floyd Brown with this impeachment on obama and help with the Finances It has nothing to do with his skin color just he has no morals or values and he hates the USA
There was never a time when I was more proud of America and of being an
American as I was back when President Reagan was in the White House. He was a true American through and through and he loved his country with everything in him….and he proved it over and over. He stood for all the things
our forefathers envisioned in a leader of the new world they sacrificed so much
to create into existence. The rulers we elect say an awful lot about the people
who vote for them and altho I did not vote for this person who is now in the
White House,I can no longer feel the pride with this man as I could when
President Reagan exemplified the American people and all we have stood for. I could feel pride when President George W. Bush held the highest office
in the land as it was obvious he loved America and he had faith in God and
he had personal integrity. There were times when I did not understand some
of the things he did,but I also understood there were no rules of previous
experiences to fall back on and I believe President Bush did his utmost to
keep America and Americans safe. I also could feel pride that we did not back down from anybody……if others had had his strength of determination,
the terrorists would not have had the nerve to attack New York as they did in
the first place. What a difference and how far down we have fallen in just one
short year. I fear for 2010.
It was nice to read an uplifting story on Christmas Day. I really liked Reagan- a lot of people did- so many lined up to pay their respects at his funeral/visitation in Washington when he passed away.
We can't despair- there is still hope- we must keep fighting. The fact that a democrat representative from Alabama switched to republican is encouraging- he sees that what is going on is wrong.
There is a special election coming up in January in Massachusetts- Scott Brown is the conservative candidate- any one interested in helping him out either financially or by phoning (you can phone to get out the vote even if you don't live in Mass. They can hook you up to a phone bank on your computer. The site is -contact Brad Hansen if you want to help brad@brownforusenate.com
Merry Christmas to you guys as well!
I'm sure Entity Obama,unlike the great President Reagan didn't give a second thought to the Secret Service being able to spend Christmas with their families. Obama is a guy absolutely totally in love with and impressed by HIMSELF. He thinks nothing of spending thousands/millions of our money on silly,pointless trips that serve only to attempt to fulfill his insatiable ego,absolutely regardless of the costs of these trips. His arrogance and naivete about the world are something to behold–something ridiculous. Obama is a fool and the ultimate Emporer with no clothes. There is no doubt now that he has lied all along and continues to do so. He respects Islam but not Christianity,is himself a Muslim,is obviously an illegitimate president because by continuing to refuse to unseal all his records,he shows he has alot to hide and in the meantime is doing as much damage to our great country as he possibly can. He's also a traitor and an unapologetic racist,as is his wife.
We just need to get this national infection called Obama and his childish,Socialist administration out of our collective bloodstream ASAP.
My heart sinks every time I turn on Fox and hear more news,more spending,more damage obama and his crew are doing to this country. I try hard not to get discouraged,I want to keep the faith and believe,but WOW it's really HARD!! How can this man and these people get away with breaking so many LAWS????????? Are these people ABOVE the LAW??? Are they UNTOUCHABLE?? Is there not even ONE HONEST JUDGE left in THIS COUNTRY?
THIS MAN HAS COMMITED TREASON AGAINST THIS COUNTRY,I LOOKED UP WHAT CONSTITUED BEING CHARGED AND THIS MAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED A LONG AGO!!
I PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR COUNTRY,OUR CHILDREN,OUR GRANDCHILDREN,OUR MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE FIGHTING AND DYING FOR OUR FREEDOM.
I WISH EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS,AND A WONDERFUL SAFE BLESSED NEW YEAR.