Remembering President Ford

We all went out on the balcony of my office here in DC and watched President Ford's funeral motorcade go by. The video above is taken by my cell phone camcorder from the 10th Floor of my office building in downtown Washington. We stood in the freezing wind to see the procession go by, which included a host of dignitaries as well as the current President of the United States, George W. Bush, and his wife Laura.

Remembering President Ford reminds me of the early years I lived in Hawaii when he was president. I remember staying up watching the election returns, wearing my "WIN" button, and cheering on the early returns. As I recall, it wasn't until Hawaii's vote came in that it became clear that the president would loose the election to Jimmy Carter. I remember being really sad - this was the first election I ever tracked and it looked so close until the very end.

Back in those days I didn't know all the political intrigue - though I know it was there - that I know today with living here in DC. But I remember his family, his dog, and of course Betty. After he left office, I read the autobiographies of both President Ford and Betty Ford, probably my first political autobiographies (and the first of many to come). They were very transparent people and a wonderful witness of kindness, honesty, stability, and grace in a world that found those traits so very rare.

God bless you, President Ford. You will always be a winner.

BB NOTE: For some reason the entire video is not broadcasting (not that it's all that long to begin with). I'll try to sort that out later. Stay tuned.

LATER: It looks like if you click the "pointer" when it stops it'll keep going. Not sure why it's doing it, but the point is made. It was a memory made, of seeing history go by.