We were privileged to be in Grand Rapids this week for the funeral of former President Gerald Ford, a favorite son of this city where he was raised and which he represented for many years in Congress before becoming president. The funeral motorcade on the way from his museum to Grace Episcopal Church for his final funeral passed within a few blocks from my parent's home, so Bryan and I joined the crowds along the way to honor his memory. There was a huge turnout of people along the motorcade route, as well as at the museum where he lay in repose earlier. It was all very moving. While watching the funeral on TV, I kept glancing out the window to watch a pair of swans on the lake who reminded me of the beauty of Jerry and Betty Ford's strong relationship, and the values they represented. We walked past of few of his earlier homes, both within a few blocks of the grade school I attended, and I was reminded how much he was a man of the people - very unostentatious and hard working and comfortable among the common people.