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The Faith of Ronald Reagan - By Mary Beth Brown

Even in death, Reagan demonstrated how miracles could still happen to him. Reagan's brain had been destroyed by Alzheimer's after over a decade of suffering from the disease. He had not been able to recognize his wife Nancy for a number of years. He could no longer talk, walk or feed himself.

Then on June 5, 2004, at 93 years of age, after being in a coma for several days, Reagan miraculously opened his eyes. He then rose, stared for awhile directly into Nancy’s eyes for one last look of deep acknowledgment, then took his last breath and died. Reagan's daughter Patti told People magazine:

"At the last moment, when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that hadn't opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague. They were clear and blue and full of love. And they closed with his last breath. If a death can be lovely, his was."

Patti and her brother Ron were standing next to their father's bed when the astonishing interchange between their parents took place.

"In his last moment he taught me that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls.  It was the last thing he could do to show my mother how entwined their souls are and it was everything."

 The deathbed phenomena experienced by Reagan during his end-of-life coma is known in the medical literature as "terminal lucidity." It is considered by parapsychologists as evidence suggesting the mind can function without a brain; and therefore, evidence suggesting survival of consciousness after death.

Terminal lucidity often comes as a complete surprise to those who attend the dying, and the dying person may appear completely restored to mental health for even minutes and hours before death. According to terminal lucidity pioneer researcher Michael Nahm,

"The most remarkable cases involve patients whose brains were destroyed by diseases such as tumours and Alzheimer’s disease, but who seemed to recover shortly before death with their memory being intact."

He defines "terminal lucidity" as "the re-emergence of normal or unusually enhanced mental abilities in dull, unconscious, or mentally ill patients shortly before death, including considerable elevation of mood and spiritual affectation, or the ability to speak in a previously unusual spiritualized and elated manner."