Happy New Year

How does that song go? "What a difference a day makes, twenty four little hours . . . "


I can't believe what a difference a year makes. Last Christmas we were happily retired and visiting Lynne and Barry in GeorgeTown, Kentucky. We rented "Carol the Christmas Cruiser" from Cruise America. Ron, Marja, Kodai, Lulubelle, and I picked up Lisa and the boys and left Tucson on a cold, rainy and very dark mid-December morning. Luckily, departure morning was the only time we experienced bad weather on the whole trip. The ice and storms hit when we were safely in Kentucky, warm inside Muddy Ford. On the night that Stephen Hart flew in to join us, Lisa and the boys went to the Blue Grass airport to pick him up while icy rain was pelting down. On the drive back to Muddy Ford, they were stopped by Kentucky troopers and they ended up walking the rest of the way home. Quite an exciting adventure for people who live in the Sonoran desert.

If anyone had said we'd be spending the 2009 Christmas at Coyote Base in California, unretired and camping, we would have said, HUH Are you crazy? Have you noticed how the word retired ends? That's us.


Tired, yes, but making a difference. That's what counts.

Ron has assumed the leadership at the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation with his usual determination and great ideas. With the help of Sandy Quinn, Frank Gannon, Dwight Chapin, Anthony Curtis, Jonathan Movroydis, and many others, this year is shaping up to be an exciting twentieth anniversary celebration of the opening of the Library celebration.


This weekend we will celebrate RN's 97th Birthday. Everett Alvarez will receive the first American Hero Award from Tricia Nixon Cox. Ed Cox will give an East Room talk about the President's legacy after he is introduced by Christopher, the President's grandson.


As we witness a leadership lapse from the White House these days, we naturally stop and ask, "What would Nixon do?" The library will be holding talks and reflecting on that question in the year ahead. We welcome your opinions. Check out "thenewnixon.org" and let us hear from you.

The first in a series of RN Legacy Forums will focus on the Domestic Policy Initiatives of the Nixon years. It is so exciting to be welcoming those people who were the leaders of those policies during the Nixon administration. The first panel will be moderated by Geoff Shepard and will include James Cavanaugh, Dick Fairbanks, John Whitaker and Fred Malek. The important permanent archival record these panels will create is very important and long over due. Ron and I will host a dinner here at Coyote Base on Thursday night. The panel will kick off on Friday the 8th and Ambassador George Argyros and his wife Julia will host a dinner at the Library that evening. On Saturday, it's free admission day in honor of the President's 97th. Tricia will lay a wreath at the grave site. Those of you in the area, please come and join us.


Yep, we've come a long way since we took Carol the Christmas Cruiser to Kentucky. Literally. Both in miles and mission. But, we learned many good things from the experience.


Here's some lessons from a Cruiser:
When riding the road, hang on to the fun. Brace for the unexpected bump in the road. Look out for the ups and downs. You can have fun anywhere if you really want to. Thank God each night for the blessings of the day.

And perhaps these can apply to "Lessons from a Presidential Library" too.
And I'll add:
Be grateful for the opportunity have been a part of it.
Cherish the friendships of those with whom you made history.
Honor the memory.
Preserve the history and don't let others re-write it.
Stay involved.