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Guest Essay

By Patti Davis

Ms. Davis is the author of “Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory and the America We Once Knew.” She led a long-running support group for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s.

On Nov. 5, 1994, my father, Ronald Reagan, wrote a letter to America announcing he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He and my mother had decided to share the news, he wrote, because, “In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are........

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