Late breaking news tonight that he took ill Sunday and gave his family quite a scare. A very serious infection.
I’m not surprised. He looked so frail and sad at Barbara’s funeral.
Infection that spread to the blood is never a good thing.
I hate to say this, but while watching the eulogies for Barbara Bush, I thought that he would probably not live much longer. In my experience, men in long-term marriages do not do well if their wives die first. I hope I’m wrong.
He’s 93 years old and just lost his wife if 73 years. I’m not sure how much fight he will have. As of now they are saying he is responding to treatments.
Not surprised at all. I was shocked when she went first. I wish him peace in what are his last days.
I thought about this. My parents were married 70 years and my dad passed away at 94 just one year after my mom. He missed her so much he just kept saying he didn’t want to go on without her. Sad for him.
Wow, and Jimmy Carter is 93 and Rosalynn is 90 - (also married 72 years) amazing resilience all of them!
If the “infection in the blood” is sepsis, it is indeed very serious. My Dad almost died from sepsis that occurred from complications of a bladder infection. He ended up needing open heart surgery because of it (his second) at age 80. It was touch and go for a time. I hope George H.W. will pull through this health crisis, but I’ll not be surprised if he doesn’t given his advanced age, fragile health, and the fact that he just lost his beloved Barbara. When I heard the news of her passing, I thought immediately that he may well follow her in the coming weeks/months. If he does, I will picture them reunited in the afterlife, together for eternity. That would be nice.
I agree that he’s probably broken hearted without much will to live. I wish Him well.
When he does pass, Bill Clinton will be just as broken hearted as the Bush family . he thinks of GHWB as a dad. They became very close when they were raising money for disaster reliefs.
My FIL died one year to the day that my MIL passed away.
My father won’t last 15 minutes without my mother because there will be no one to take care of him, do his laundry, pay the bills, get his dinner. He can’t do anything without her.
My grandparents died 5 days apart. My grandmother was in her final days of lung cancer when my grandfather suddenly passed away at her bed side despite being in stable health.
He said he didn’t want to ever live without her. So he didn’t.
I’d be sad for his family for losing two parents/grandparents, especially close together. But I won’t be sad for him. He’s a few months shy of 94. He’s lived a very good life for the most part. He just lost his partner of 70+ years and I have no doubt that is taking its toll. Plus, he’s been sick and hospitalized before in the past few years. I guess I just can’t be sad for someone in their 90s dying. I wish them as painless and quick a death as possible, I hope they don’t linger in poor health for months or years, I’m sympathetic to the family who is left behind but I can’t be sad for that person if their time has come at that age.
My FIL died 10 days after my MIL died.
It’s hard to think of a fragile 93-yo, with very fresh grief, fighting sepsis in an ICU. I do feel sorry for the family if they have to go through another funeral so soon, especially the state funeral that will be held when this man dies.
A couple of years ago, the parents of former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, who were married 56 years, died of heart attacks within an hour of each other.
Sometimes, I think that elderly people who are physically and psychologically ready to die somehow manage to hold on while someone else needs them. When that burden is lifted, they can go.
Mr. Bush has been in not-so-great health for a long time. He may have been ready to go. But lately, his wife needed him when her own health went south. He may not have been able to do any physical care, but I’m sure that he played an important role by providing companionship and emotional support.
Now Barbara doesn’t need him any more. If he’s ready to go, he can go.
I’ve seen something similar happen in my own family. My father was his older sister’s caregiver in the last years of her life. She was in and out of nursing homes, and he managed her care in both situations. She died at 90. He died 5 months later, at 83. Yes, he had a heart condition, and his death certificate says that this is why he died. But I think that he really died because his work was done and he was free to go.
It seems to me that there really isn’t a lot of support out there for the elderly who lose a long term spouse. I just can’t image how someone in fragile health themselves handles that level of grief. It’s not shocking to hear he’s very ill, I hope if it’s his time he passes gently into the night. I also believed that he and Bill Clinton formed quite a bond as well. It’s an odd thing when an elderly person dies, you know they lived a good long life, but you will still miss them.
That will make Jimmy Carter the oldest living president - now there is a man who has persevered through some major health issues as well.
My grandfather went out and got a “job” and a girlfriend after grandma died. He held out for several years.