Cheers, Jeers and Prayers for Nancy Reagan

In “Nancy’s New Role” (Aug. 3), Pamela Warrick reports on Nancy Reagan and her husband, former President Ronald Reagan’s progressive disablement from Alzheimer’s disease.

Is it truly impossible to write of the Reagans without quoting “some onetime critics” (for the purpose of this article, anonymously of course) who called Mrs. Reagan “Dragon Lady,” or categorized her tasteful attention to American fashion designers as an “obsession . . . to haute couture” (Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was equally devoted to fashion, receiving raves for her designer selections and personal style), or calling Nancy Reagan “notoriously adept” or “skilled at manipulating,” both words carrying a nasty pejorative?

PATRICIA MERRILL

Los Angeles

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Poor Nancy Reagan, trapped in her palatial estate in Bel-Air with only her household staff and an entourage of health care aides to care for her husband. My heart bleeds that she is only able to get to the Hotel Bel-Air for lunch three times a week.

To refer to her as a “caregiver” is a gross misrepresentation of the word. Most of us caregivers do not have the luxury of a household staff, a chauffeured limousine or an entourage of health aides. It is incumbent upon us to personally bathe, shave, dress and feed our loved ones as well as to perform myriad other tasks involved with being a caregiver. But we do it in the name of love. We took a vow many years ago that we would care for one another “in sickness and in health,” and we are now fulfilling that vow.

While I do empathize with Mrs. Reagan’s emotional loss, she does not exactly fit the profile of a “caregiver.”

M. DAVIS

Corona del Mar

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My prayers to Nancy Reagan. She is a woman of great strength even in those moments of darkness.

God bless Ronnie and Nancy.

MARGARET MUEZENBURG

Costa Mesa

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This article is an insult to everyone afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, their caretakers and loved ones.

Regarding the disease itself, Ronald Reagan, without regard for human suffering and solely for personal political expedience, stopped federal funding for fetal cell research into Alzheimer’s and many other hideous diseases.

George Bush continued the ban, and 12 years of research were lost forever.

ROSLYN WALKER

Marina del Rey