history

The death of Gerald R. Ford has been big news around here for the last week or so. And it makes sense - Grand Rapids is his hometown. As a history buff (and a GR native), I've found it fascinating to read the stories, talk to people and learn more about this man. Sure, I've been to the museum a few times, but it's taken these events to bring this man and his life into focus.

President Ford's casket arrived at the airport yesterday, and since my office is so close, a small group of us decided to head to 44th and Patterson to watch Air Force One land, and to see the motorcade.

There were a LOT of people there - and a lot of kids, which I loved. I'm so glad they got to experience this piece of history. We saw the plane land and after about half an hour, the motorcade made its way down the drive from the airport. We were standing in the airport entrance along with several hundred other people. The hearse went by fairly quickly, and then the car with Mrs. Ford and many cars following with various dignitaries (the only one I could easily see was Jimmy Carter). It was solemn, reverent and inspiring to see all of these different people - different ages, backgrounds, races - taking part together in a truly historic moment.

Today, Pete and I waited outside our house to see if we could catch a glimpse of the 21 F-15 fighters as they did the flyover of the final service today - and we did! Granted, they were a little ways off but there's no mistaking the noise.

Listening to and watching the services has been moving - I love the symbolism, the pagentry, the history, the gathering of leaders. But beyond that, I'm continually struck by the fact that while he was a world leader, he was also a husband, a dad, a grandpa, and how both inspirational and difficult it has to be for his family to have this be so public.

And that's my little taste of history...