“I had thought I would hate being First Lady… I loved it.”

The search for human freedom can never be complete without freedom for women.

My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country.

A housewife deserves to be honored as much as a woman who earns her living in the marketplace. I consider bringing up children a responsible job. In fact, being a good housewife seems to me a much tougher job than going to the office and getting paid for it.

I think once I made up my mind that I was allergic to alcohol, and that’s what I learned, it made sense to me. And I think it was kind of pointed out that you know if you were allergic to strawberries, you wouldn’t eat strawberries. And that made sense to me.

That’s what we’re here on this Earth for, to help others.

I’ll never forget the day that I was told I would have to have a mastectomy. My reaction to the words was total denial.

Holding these babies in my arms makes me realize the miracle my husband and I began.

Alcohol may pick you up a little bit, but it lets you down in a hurry.

We’re full all the time. And people do have good success and I think one of the programs at the center, the Continuing Care, helps them with their success. Because it’s difficult the first year.

You can make it, but it’s easier if you don’t have to do it alone.

For 14 years, I’d been on medication for the pinched nerve, the arthritis, the muscle spasms in my neck, and I’d lost my tolerance for pills. If I had a single drink, the alcohol, on top of the pills, would make me groggy.

Friends aren’t any more important than breath or blood to a high school senior.

I don’t feel that because I’m First Lady, I’m very different from what I was before. It can happen to anyone. After all, it has happened to anyone.

It’s always been my feeling that God lends you your children until they’re about eighteen years old. If you haven’t made your points with them by then, it’s too late.

I really didn’t want to have my name on the center, because it just seemed like it was too much of a personal thing.

I feel it’s important to be active. People who retire, sit by their swimming pool and golf course and plan to relax have a very empty life.