I first heard of Ronald Reagan’s death Saturday afternoon as I was standing on the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago. We had spent the afternoon at the city’s GospelFest in Grant Park and were walking down the shore when I checked the neds on my cell phone. After reading the news, as I looked back at the skyline, I was reminded vividly of Reagan’s “City on a Hill” theme, which echoed through his eight years. With the sun setting behind the skyscrapers, the potency of that image struck me again.

Reagan will certainly be remembered differently by different people. His enduring legacy will that of the ultimate Cold Warrior, calling out Gorbachev and the Soviets at a time when no one thought they would respond. His optimism carried America through some tough times in the early 1980s, and it’s unlikely that a president with equal gravitas will ever inhabit the Oval Office again.

My most distinct memory of Reagan came after the Challenger tragedy. Hearing Reagan remind us in his grandfatherly that everything was going to be all right seemed to stick in my head for years to come. I was lucky to have seen Reagan in person back in 1984 when he came to suburban Chicago to campaign. My dad — a lifelong Democrat — took me to see Reagan when he spoke at a local community college. It’s something I’ll never forget.

So the world bids farewell to the Great Communicator, who no longer looks through that glass dimly, but now sees his savior face to face.