"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

This blog entry is about Ronald Reagan.

But I'll do my best not to be political in any way. It's just a few of my memories of the man and his presidency -- from my eyes as a kid.

* It was November of 1980. I was in Mrs. Davidson's third grade class. I remember the election for a couple of reasons: first and foremost, my brother, Rob, in sixth grade at the time, had to do a report on one of the candidates. He picked Ronald Reagan, a guy I had never heard of. I saw the picture of him on the campaign material -- his goofy, yet friendly smile -- and I was instantly reminded of my Uncle Paul who, at that time, had the same slicked black hair. I also knew that I didn't want him to win.

Why? Simple -- because my parents were supporting John Anderson, the Independent candidate. We're not talking about a Ralph Nader-like individual. At the time, the president was Jimmy Carter, and even Democrats weren't too happy with him. There was no way that Carter could win. Thus -- people felt safe voting for a third party candidate -- someone who wasn't even on the radar screen when the polls closed.

I remember us doing a mock election in class. The kids voted on one issue -- who their parents would vote for. I was shocked when our room had two votes for Anderson, and all the rest for Reagan. I guess our parents leaned to the right. Meanwhile, across the hall in Mrs. Kaufman's class, I poked my head in and saw a complete landslide. The winner? John Anderson. Who even remembers the guy?

I was also surprised at the way "Reagan" was spelled. One of my first news stories I remember was the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed in March of 1979. I was in first grade, and I remember our teachers wheeling in a TV so we could watch the proceedings with President Carter and Prime Ministers Begin and Sadat from Israel and Egypt respectively. Of course we didn't understand exactly what was going on, but it's what happens when you attend a Jewish school, I guess. But I do remember that three-way handshake.

In any case, Prime Minister Menachem Begin (pronounced BAY-gin) spelled his name as it is shown. I learned that in first grade. And then came this Reagan guy. So, in my mind, it was obvious that his name was Ronald Regin. How foolish I felt when I saw his name on the board...

* Did I mention it was a Jewish school? Music class would have us sing traditional Yiddish folksongs such as Tum Balalaike. It had a line which went voksn, voksn, voksn un reygn. And we all would giggle. Hee...

* "Garbage Pail Kids" cards eventually came out. The big rumor was that the "Ronnie Raygun" card had been recalled due to the president not liking the image it represented. I never collected these cards, so it wasn't a huge issue for me.

* "What choo talkin' bout, Mrs. Reagan?" Remember the very special episode of Diff'rent Strokes where Arnold goes to a party where there are drugs? Remember Nancy Reagan making a special guest appearance? Or when she was in a video with "New Edition" called "Stop the Madness," an anthem against drug abuse? (Hey -- wasn't Bobby Brown in New Edition? Who is he married to again?)

* Fall 1984: I'm in seventh grade this time around. Mrs. Boyar instructs us to choose one issue of the upcoming election and write a report about it. I choose SDI - the "Star-Wars Defense Initiative" put into place to protect us from impending nuclear attack by the USSR. My mind has been made up since August of that year, when Reagan joked during a sound check that "the bombing [of Russia] will begin in five minutes." Not funny, I thought. Besides -- Mondale seemed kind of cool - and with a chick VP running-mate! How cool was that? Eventually Mondale/Ferraro lost by a landslide...

And the big memory...

* One of my brother's best friends (both of them were in grade 9 at the time) had a severe diving accident at the pool across the street from our school. It was very touch and go as to whether Adam would survive or not. He did survive -- but was paralyzed from the neck down.

In true style, Rob decided to write a letter to the Office of the President, knowing that Adam's idol was President Reagan. Now Rob was no fan of Reagan's, but he knew that some kind of letter from the President's office would cheer up his friend. And Adam received a card from President Reagan. It was most likely signed by the "auto-pen" and not by Reagan himself, but it was something to raise his spirits.

Little did Rob know who Adam's parents were at the time.

You see, they were influential members of the Republican Party in Maryland. They had been known for their contributions to the campaign, especially within the Jewish community which was mostly supporting Mondale. Rob's class was invited to a special function at which Reagan was speaking. That in itself was an honor. But not as much as what would happen next.

Which was that President Reagan met with Adam, his family, and my brother.

We have photos of the handshake between the two of them. The conversation was pretty short -- about three sentences, and Rob remembers the president extending his hand expecting Adam to shake it. Which he couldn't because he was paralyzed. Oops. He ended up patting Adam on the shoulder.

Two weeks before the 1984 election, both of our families were invited for a private tour of the West Wing of the White House. the President was out of the area campaigning, and we were shown just about everything -- including standing in the middle of the Oval Office. My reaction at the time -- "how do they get the doors to curve along with the edge of the room?" I was back to the White House for a private tour in 2000, but wasn't able to go back into the Office...

So -- that's my view of Reagan. I still was too young to really experience him affecting my life politically. I probably wouldn't have voted for him. But he was a part of my childhood nonetheless.