At the Reagan Presidential Library with Nancy in the background.

“I just want to start each day by opening my eyes and seeing you and end each day seeing you before I close them. In between times, I’ll just look in my heart. You are always there.” -excerpt from a letter from Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan

I visited the Reagan Presidential Library when I lived in California, and that’s where I first learned of the fairy tale love affair between President and Mrs Reagan.

The Library displays many of the love letters they wrote to each other over the years. And in the book I bought there, I Love You, Ronnie, written by Nancy, there are many more.

When I heard of Nancy’s passing last weekend, it affected me more than the passing of a 94 year ex-first lady should have.

She was the first first lady I knew. And she was there through my childhood.

Politics aside, she was the country’s mother for eight years.

We were with her as she endured her beloved husband’s deterioration until his death; a situation that seems like one we all fear in life as we get older.

So as I watched her funeral last night – with Tom Brokaw and Mr. T and the white peonies overflowing on her casket – I felt a loss too.

Her beautiful, tragic love story was laid to rest.

And I thought of the Reagan Presidential Library, where she will be buried, and where she will finally get to take in every mountain sunset with her husband forever.