Happy Birthday, Dutch!

Today marks the 101st anniversary of the day of Ronald Reagan’s birth. Happy Birthday, Dutch!

I get a kick out of his nickname, “Dutch”. My dad and all his brothers were given nicknames by a hired hand when they were kids; the eldest brother was “Abie”, next was “Dutch”, dad was “Swede”, and his little brother was “Runt”. They kept those names for the rest of their lives, and most of their closest friends didn’t even know their real names. Dad said the only person who called him by his real name was his own mother.

Reagan’s nickname came a little earlier than did my dad’s and his brothers’;

Ronald got the name Dutch because when he was born, his father said, he looks just like a Dutchman. He was a big baby, chubby.

I’ve known quite a few Dutchmen; don’t really get how being a chubby baby made him look like a Dutchman, but whatever. Just wanting to wish one of my favorite Presidents a happy birthday. You, sir, are missed.

edit: Interesting side note;

That was the Reagan Quote Of The Day on the Ronald Reagan website when this post first went up a year ago. Ironic, especially considering the parallels between the Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter Administrations. The Obama people keep saying we’re coming out of this recession/depression; while this part of the country hasn’t been as badly affected as others, I’m not getting the same warm fuzzies they’re trying to pass along in regard to the economy. Replacing Obama would go a long way toward instilling confidence in a lot of people though.

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