Betty Ford, R I P

Tonight is a bittersweet one as one of the most consequential First Ladies of the modern era, Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford, better known as Betty Ford, died at the age of 93.
Yes, she was very much a liberal. No question about it. She was very much an advocate for the failed Equal Rights Amendment. Pro-abortion. Had very ahead of her time views of marijuana use. Pre-marital sex. Yes, she was in one sense a product of the dreaded 60s and 70s.
But what I believe the two things Mrs Ford will be remembered for in a positive way was her fight against breast cancer and admitting her alcohol and prescription drug abuse.
On September 26, 1974, Mrs. Ford was diagnosed with malignant breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and two days later, went public with what had happened. That was a first. And photos of then President Gerald R. Ford in the hospital room with her were splashed across newspapers from coast to coast.
That event began to create a public awareness of a condition that was in the shadows. Many a woman is alive today because of the courageous act of Mrs. Ford to be public about something so personal.
But what she will be most remembered for is her admission of being an alcoholic and prescription drug abuser.
That had to be the toughest thing to do in her life. Yet because of her frankness, talking about the recovery that she went through at the Long Beach Naval Hospital's drug and alcohol recovery program, she realized that there were no program's for women.
And the Betty Ford Center was born.
The Center was actually dedicated on October 3, 1982.
Since then, thousands of people began their journey to a life of sobriety and fullness.
That is the true legacy of Betty Ford.
Mrs. Ford will be remembered as opinionated, exceedingly honest, but what I take away that she helped many people who were living in shame and silence. Whether it was in her breast cancer fight or her own recovery from chemical dependency, Betty Ford was a trailblazer and a fighter.
Betty Ford, 1918-2011. Rest In Peace.