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Exit Stage Left

-The Long Goodbye of Ronald Wilson Reagan-




Monday Night, March 24th, 1997

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California


The room had fallen silent since the last actors and actresses had left the stage a minute prior. It was now the time slated for the Honorary Academy Award to be presented and yet no one had taken the stage to introduce the man they were honoring. A sense of what could be described as unease crept over the audience as some began to think that a technological issue had caused a delay in the night’s events. Behind the curtain at the back of the stage a frail and fragile man steadied himself, his once solid memory now relying on constant repetition to remember things in detail. His wife, Nancy, had done her best to stop him from taking the stage tonight in front of the faces he had called friends for most of the last century. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces out in that sea of people… those he once held closest had passed away as the years had advanced without a second’s pause. Had the Academy known of the condition he would be revealing tonight, they most likely wouldn’t have allowed him this last standing ovation. He tightened his tie, dusted off his sleeves, and removed his glasses before gingerly raising up his arm to give the staff a thumbs up. He was ready for his grand exit from this fantastic career. This fantastic life that was beginning to escape him…


“Ladies and Gentlemen…The Academy is proud to present….,” The female announcer began gently as the curtain drew away and across the stage; leaving the man of the moment alone on a vast stage and in the spotlight for the last time of his life. “Two-Time Academy Award winner… Ronald Wilson Reagan….”
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