ANNE MCKEE: Barbara Bush was one of a kind

Published 4:03 pm Thursday, April 19, 2018

I liked Barbara Bush and I have dreaded the day when our world would lose her. And of course, I never met her although I had hoped that maybe someday, somehow, somewhere our paths would cross, but alas that was not to be.

No, I never met Barbara Bush but I did write about her. Like thousands I felt a close companionship with the lady whom many termed, “America’s Grandmother.” Yes, the stark, white coiffure that never saw a drop of hair dye, the pearls draped around her neck and the bright eyes plus gentle smile were all part of her persona. I think she made people feel comfortable, even when she stared out from the TV set.

You know I felt as if I could tell her my problems and that she would listen with a genuine concern. Oh, maybe I have been wrong with my conception of the lady, but I don’t think so. It was something about her eyes – a willingness to understand and console those she met along her pathway.

Oh, and her pathway was a millennium, it seemed, of great adventures. Yet she remained grounded, not too hot on herself, I think. I can remember the news media and their vicious commentary regarding Barbara’s fashion and even her size. This was during those years on the political trail with her husband.

No, she wasn’t a “little flit of a thing” like Nancy Reagan, nor was she a fashion icon like Jackie Kennedy, but Barbara Bush made her way by being herself. I think she walked it as she talked it. There is one Barbara quote I especially liked, “People who worry about their hair all the time is, frankly, boring.”

Go Barbara!

And when she said, “I’m a little old-fashioned,” then I knew she was a much needed fresh breath for the American people. I believed we Americans, at least some of the population, thought we were beyond grandmotherly advice, but that didn’t stop Barbara Bush. Her common sense rhetoric was straight forward and never offered with an apology.

I loved her humor. One of her last correspondences, published this month, was to Smith College’s alumnae magazine. Barbara wrote, “I have had great medical care and more operations than you would believe. I’m not sure God will recognize me. I have so many new body parts.”

She and George H. W. Bush experienced young love, first meeting at a Christmas dance when she was 16 and he was 17. When they married, she was 19 and he was 20. She said, “George was the first boy I had ever kissed.” They had six children, one died at age three of leukemia. It was devastating.

Barbara once said that she wasn’t afraid to die. That she had faced death once – when three year old daughter, Robin, died. She said, “Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children and you must hug your children and you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house.”

Yes, dedication to family was Barbara Bush’s ultimate reason for living. She was that stay-at-home mom, who attended youth baseball games, drove in car pools, brought snacks to Cub Scout meetings and supported the local library. She loved it.

She said, “Raising five boys is a hand-full, trust me.”

But raise them; she did, while supporting her husband’s political ambitions 100%. She became known to the family-circle as “the enforcer.” I think that word is all inclusive and needs no further explanation.

Also she was an author. Reading and writing were both very important to her. She published two children’s books, “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Story,” both featured her favorite dogs. The monies made were donated to Mrs. Bush’s special literacy project.

But I think Barbara Bush’s life strategy can be seen clearly when she said, “Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people – your family, friends, and co-workers, and even strangers you meet along the way.”

Last Tuesday as Barbara Bush breathed her last, her husband of 73 years held her hand as family members read to her, just as she had requested.

Goodbye, America’s Grandmother – you were one of a kind.

Anne McKee is a Mississippi historian, writer and storyteller. She is listed on the Mississippi Humanities Speakers Bureau and Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Artist and Teaching Artist Rosters. See her website: www.annemckeestoryteller.com.