This week sucked. First Ronald Reagan passes away, then Ray Charles. I've been much more emotional over the loss of Ronald Reagan than I thought I would be. I'm an emotional person to begin with and, sure, I expected to cry when I watched the funeral today, but I didn't expect to get teary eyed every time I watched something about him on TV or saw Nancy without him at her side. He was 'my' president. To me, his passing feels like I just lost one of my grandparents. And I don't care if people think I'm an idiot for feeling this way.

I took today off from work to watch the funeral on TV and plan to watch the burial tonight. Anyone can say what they want about him on the political level, but on the personal level you can't deny he was an incredibly charismatic man who was able to get us all to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, brush off the dirt and push forward.

I remember the day he was shot. I got home from school and my mother was sitting on her knees in the living room watching TV. Since she never watches TV during the day, I knew something was wrong. I asked what happened and she said, "Reagan was shot." At the time, we had a dog named Regan, so at first I thought she was talking about him. When she said, "No, no, honey, the President" my heart went from my knees to my feet. I was only 10 when it happened, but can still remember it like it was yesterday.

Rest in peace, President Reagan.

I heard the news of Ray Charles' passing yesterday afternoon. I mentioned it to a couple of my co-workers, one of whom is 22 years old and only a year out of college. She said, "Ray Charles? Who's that?" My other co-worker and I stared at her in disbelief. I asked, "Are you serious?! You don't know who Ray Charles is..." She got a sheepish look on her face and said, "Nooooo... who was he?"

OMFreakin'G

...tsk... Kids these days.

D finally had interview #2 with the fund company this morning. He called when he was done and said he didn't think it went all that well. I told him sometimes when you think you've blown it, you've actually nailed it. Well, the recruiting agent he's been going through called him this afternoon and said, "Expect to get an offer." SWEET! Can't get much more positive than that. So here's hoping.

I'll write about my appointment yesterday later. My niece is on the line and she's a long-winded talker so I gotta go.