At the age of 93, former President Gerald R. Ford had become our longest living former president. As the nation mourns the passing of former President Ford, who died Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, he is being remembered as a great healer of the nation in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. At the time he pardoned former President Nixon, he was questioned and criticized for the wisdom of that action. In retrospect, his decision was credited for helping the nation move forward and heal. Recovered alcoholic and breast cancer survivor Betty Ford is known for being a healer for the people of this nation in her own right. She willingly battled her most private demons and medical challenges openly, breaking the rules by speaking publicly about struggles society deemed private matters best kept quiet and spoken of only in whispers behind closed doors.
"It's hard for anyone born perhaps after 1980 or even in 1970 to understand that these things were not talked about," said Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of the division of cancer prevention and control research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "They were very stigmatizing. A woman didn't dare to mention to her friends, employer, extended family, that she had breast cancer."
Betty is credited with the successful launch of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation by attending the first luncheon. Nancy G. Brinker, founder of the foundation, has said of Betty Ford, "If she had not come, we would never have been able to launch. I don't think young women today realize the importance of what she did -- she lit the candle in dark rooms all over the world in healthcare and substance abuse and human understanding."
History will record that both former President Gerald R. Ford and former First lady Betty Ford were profound healers, in courage, compassion and wisdom.
