At the Reagan Library President Reagan Lying in Repose June 8, 2004 There was never any question about us going, it was only a matter of timing. Our plan was to try the wee hours of Tuesday morning, thinking that would be the best time to beat the crowds. We would avoid the traffic, go though a short line, pay our respects, and return home in time for breakfast. So, we took off at 11:30pm on Monday night, not realizing that thousands of others were simultaneously launching the same brilliant plan. Initial traffic on the 118 West - the Simi Valley or "Ronald Reagan" Freeway - was so light that I was certain we had outfoxed the crowd. I had to brake hard at coming abruptly onto the first string of solid tail lights, which we thought must be the offramp to staging area parking at Moorpark College. Well it was, sort of - except that the actual exit was not the first offramp just 1/4 mile ahead, but the second at another 3 miles. The time was 2:30am, given that we had stopped briefly for a bite on the way (and a good thing too). We finally reached the end of the real offramp at 5:00am, and only 30 minutes later we finally parked the car just as daylight was breaking. The wait in traffic had taken three hours to cover four miles. Funny to think how we would have hated that in normal rush-hour big-city traffic, but didn't mind this at all. Every late night radio station was talking about this phenomenon, this tremendous outpouring of tribute and honor and respect for President Reagan, and we knew we were participating in something special. Everyone was easy going, simply happy to be there. No traffic tempers, no road rage. After one car seemed to cut into the line, its driver jumped out ran back to apologize, saying he hadn't realized this was the line until it was too late. At another brief stop in the steady crawl, the driver in front of us ran back to ask if we would mind holding his place while he dropped out of line to "powder his nose." Once on campus, the first waiting line we saw didn't look too bad. But as we soon discovered, only the home stretch was visible at first. Down some long steps, past a large building, across a quad, beyond another building, and at the bottom of a long slope we finally found the end of the line. That walk alone took 15 minutes, so we clocked the start of the "wait in line" phase of the mission at 5:45am. Over the course of the next 3-1/2 hours we met several new friends. It wasn't that the line was not moving, it actually crept along at a fairly steady pace. It's just that it was so very, very long. There was fairly steady conversation, cell phone calls, and general reflection on what we were all doing there. Upon finally re-climbing those same steps we had descended more than two hours earlier, we discovered that what had earlier appeared to be the home stretch was actually made up of three long serpentine loops, as for a popular ride at Disneyland but without the poles and chains to keep everyone organized. No matter, there was no hint of complaint or disorderly conduct of any kind, this entire crowd was on a singular mission that commanded courtesy and best behavior without a word being said. We reached the "real" home stretch at about 9:15am, and then went through a large canopied area set up as an impromptu security checkpoint. Much like at an airport, we placed our pocket contents on a table and walked through a metal detector. No cameras were allowed - just imagine the delays for photos and all the popping flashes while passing the casket. Before boarding a waiting bus there was one final stop, at a large table covered with guest books. No entries on the open pages I saw were merely name and town, they were full of remarks and expressions of condolence and respect to the Reagan family. And like the area set aside for the thousands of mementos that had been accumulating here and at the funeral home, I noticed many, many comments like my simple "Thank You President Reagan." Then on to the buses, at last! There were always perhaps twenty or more of them waiting, and each typically filled and departed within about 1-2 minutes. The climbing ride up to the Library took another twenty minutes or so. Small flags lined the way, and all the streetlamps had banners depicting each of our past presidents, in sequence. The morning was bright and sunny, cool with a gentle breeze, a light fog still obscuring the Pacific Ocean in the near distance below. Inside the Library entrance we began to see what we had watched previously on television. The courtyard with the central fountain where the Monday morning ceremony began. The spot where Nancy Reagan had stood as the casket was carried in. The stepped platform from which the military band had played. What was new was the lines of people, which serpentined through the courtyard and finally down a columned side corridor. After close to another hour, which still seemed to pass quickly, we were finally at the bronze cowboy statue of Ronald Reagan and the entrance to the foyer where the casket was placed. The passage inside was brief, solemn, and silent. One of the many television cameras may have caught a grayed old graybeard in coat and tie who stopped for a moment to salute and cover his heart. Hail, thank you, and farewell to the Chief. Near the exit from the foyer, two volunteers handed each visitor a thank you card and said quietly and sincerely, "Thank you so much for coming." We've had our two cards framed and they are displayed now on the walls of our office. Back outside I made a point of expressing to an elderly volunteer what a fine job they were all doing, to which he immediately replied "Sir, all of us consider it a great honor to be here today." The rest of the day was anticlimactic - how could it not be? We rode another bus back down to the college, some in silence while others chatted quietly about the experience. We then said goodbye to our new friends, walked to our car, and got started on the long drive home. We'd both been up for nearly 30 hours at that point and shared the driving while the other napped. Throughout the day, we heard over and over again why people had come. It was to pay last respects to President Reagan. It was to help applaud and celebrate his indomitable optimism and good cheer, and his immeasurable contributions to our great nation and to the world. It was to participate in such an historic occasion, and many brought their children. And it was because we knew that such a huge outpouring was conveying to the nation and world a message of how much this man had meant and still means to us all. There was nothing more we could do than take a day of time from our lives to just show up and be there, and that's what over 100,000 people - plain folks just like us - felt compelled to do. It was a tremendously moving and unforgettable day. And finally, we knew that many of our friends and family would be unable to attend, and that in doing so ourselves we might represent them and help them feel closer to it by sharing the experience. Time now to watch the funeral procession at the Capitol on television. Wish we could be there too. -Ted and Asih Olson "To Ronnie - Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Margaret Thatcher's entry in the Blair House guest book Washington DC, 10 June 2004