Nancy Reagan still sees and talks to her beloved Ronnie

Washington, June 1 (ANI): Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan has revealed that she still sees and talks to her late husband and former president Ronald Reagan.

In an interview with Vanity Fair about her husband, the 40th president of the United States, 87-year-old Nancy said: "At nighttime, if I wake up, I think Ronnie's there and I start to talk to him. The fact is, I do think he's there. And I see him."

The wide-ranging interview touched on a number of topics, including giving advice to current First Lady, Michelle Obama -- even though she voted for John McCain-her feelings on stem-cell research and her work with her late husband's presidential library.

Ronald Reagan died June 5, 2004, at the age of 93. But almost five years later, Nancy says she still misses Ronnie "an awful lot."

"People say it gets better," she said. "No, it does not."

Does she ever feel like giving up?

"No. Ronnie wouldn't like that," she said.

Nancy believes they will be reunited in the after life and evangelist Billy Graham assured her of it.

"I said to him, 'Just tell me if I'm going to be with Ronnie again. Just tell me that, and I'll be OK.' He said, 'You are.' And I said, 'OK,' " she recalled.

"I've had quite a life, when you stop and think about it," Nancy added. "I'm very lucky. Especially with Ronnie . . . I was always so proud of him, everything he did."

In the interview, conducted at her home in the Bel Air section of L A, Nancy revealed she had a 45-minute talk with Michelle Obama, who called for advice, and she encouraged the First Lady to have lots of state dinners.

The Reagans hosted 56 state dinners, while George and Laura Bush had only six.

Entertaining at the White House, with its large staff, is "the easiest thing in the world," Nancy said. "You don't have to do anything. Just have a good time, and do a little business. That's the way Washington works."

Mrs. Reagan, a supporter of stem-cell research, sounds a little miffed that President Obama didn't invite her to the White House for the ceremony announcing he was lifting restrictions on federal funding for the research.

Thirty members of Congress attended the ceremony from both parties, as well as several prominent stem-cell advocates.

"I would have gone, and you know I don't like to travel," Nancy said. "Politically, it would have been a good thing for him to do. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

"He called and thanked me for working on it. But he could have gotten more mileage out of it."

The former first lady says she got interested in stem-cell research because it might be helpful for Alzheimer's disease, which her husband was diagnosed with in 1994.

"It was terrible at that time because nobody knew anything about Alzheimer's," she said. "Therefore, I had nobody to call, nobody to ask any questions of at all. Now people call and ask me questions."

Nancy said she voted for McCain last November but believes Obama "ran the best campaign I have ever known -- disciplined, well organized, very, very good. I was very impressed."

The interview appears in the July issue of Vanity Fair, which hits newsstands Wednesday. (ANI)