[On her father, Ronald Reagan:] How do you argue with someone who states that the people who are sleeping on the grates of the streets of America 'are homeless by choice'?

People love the way they're capable of loving-but that's not always how you want them to love or how you think they should love.

My father's body lies in a stone tomb high on a hill. People walk by, pause, think their own thoughts about him and move on, back to their own lives. I can never move on. He is everywhere.

Just think: people decided one day that a day should be set aside for motherhood and fatherhood. What a great concept that is.

I don't think it's an accident who our parents are; I believe we choose them. So maybe I chose my parents in order to effect change.

I think the earlier stages of Alzheimer's are the hardest. Particularly because the person knows that they are losing awareness. They're aware that they're losing awareness, and you see them struggling.

I have a feeling of reverence about my father being in his 80s - a feeling that I want to whisper, take soft steps, not intrude too much. He's like a stately old cathedral to me now.