A somber Nancy Reagan brought a small bouquet of white flowers to lay at the headstone of her husband, President Ronald Reagan, on the 10th anniversary of his death Thursday.
Gazing at a large standing wreath that stood nearby, and then at the headstone, the 92-year-old former first lady paid quiet tribute at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
A video of the touching visit
was posted on CNN.
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Story continues below video.
Dressed in a cream-colored pantsuit and matching shoes, Mrs. Reagan, was in a wheelchair at the gravesite. She is in fragile health after suffering broken ribs in a fall two years ago.
She has visited her husband's grave every year on the anniversary of his death, but this year marked the first year she allowed media to attend since his funeral.
"It is really hard for me to believe that Ronnie has been gone for 10 years. I still feel his presence every day and often find him in my dreams at night," she said in a statement about the 40th president,
the New York Daily News reported.
"Many people have told me how much they wish we could have 'another Ronald Reagan' back in Washington, and I can't argue their logic, but for me there will be only the one Ronald Reagan, a man that was both the love of my life and one of the greatest leaders this country has ever produced."
Stepson Michael Reagan said the widow’s annual visit to the grave is important to her.
"Nancy, every year, has gone back and visited my father’s grave,"
he told Closer magazine.
"That’s a private time she has with her thoughts, and it’s important for her to have that moment."
Reagan’s death came almost 20 years to the day after he delivered one of the most memorable speeches of his career
to mark the 40th anniversary of D-Day, the Washington Post noted.
The Post recalled that at Normandy's Pointe Du Hoc, Reagan paid tribute to American and allied soldiers, saying:
"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war."
And he also appealed for peace at a tense time for United States-Soviet relations.
"We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest," he said.
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The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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