I admired her strong and vibrant personality.
What a life! Long, full of amazing experiences, and always a lovely person.
I admired her obvious wit and no-nonsense honesty. She represented a sort of dignity and class sorely lacking in public life lately and she will be remembered for her service to both the country and her family.
I adored Barbara Bush. Complete class.
A wonderful life that she lived; a woman who was devoted to her husband and family. Prayer of condolence to the Bush family.
When I toured the west wing a few years ago all the long time staff said she was hands down the nicest First Lady of them all. She knew everyone’s names, and their families and would even bake them cookies. She had class and dignity.
I liked her saltiness and willingness to tell it like it is. Kudos for her work with leukemia and literacy. A life well lived.
Mrs. Bush was the guest reader at my daughter’s fifth grade class. She brought her dogs with her. I asked my daughter if she wore a pearl necklace. My daughter was astounded I would know something like that. She got even more impressed if I asked if there was a watchful man or two standing at the classroom door. The answer was, of course, yes.
The biographies I’ve read of her indicate she was a real “mean girl” in HS and in her year at Smith. But she endured the worst a parent can and at a time you were supposed to " get over it." That life tragedy made her more empathetic while preserving her toughness.
Favorite hands down. Class, grit and grace…
What an amazing woman who has led an incredible life and left such a legacy. Just watching CNN and so moved by all the tributes from past presidents and family as well as historians, journalists, commentators and so on.
My favorite Bush. RIP
A one of a kind First Lady. Sad day.
Definitely a wonderful person, and excellent First Lady. Always tasteful, and thoughtful.
Condolences to her family.
A woman who lived on her own terms as best she could and fought for and died on her own terms - at home, her choice. <3
An admirable couple. Best wishes to the Bush family.
@maya54 -
So Barbara Bush was a “mean girl.” If that is the case, she is a perfect example of the fact that people can change. I always thought she was great, a real heimish type of woman. I could never stomach Nancy Reagan, but found Mrs. Bush to be refreshing. She humanized her H and sons, in my opinion.
RIP, Barbara Bush and condolences to her family.
I’m so sad for her family and the devoted husband she leaves behind. She was a wonderful First Lady, whose grit, intelligence and rapier wit were always entertaining to witness. I totally believe it when those who knew her refere to her as “a rock.” I can’t imagine the sense of sorrow George H.W. Must be feeling. They were at each other’s side through thick and thin for 73 yrs. He is in increasingly failing health himself, so the loss of the love of his life, no matter how well he may have tried to be prepared for it, has to be taking a considerable toll. Tonight he and the rest of the family are in my prayers.
But she left on her own terms and surrounded by the family that adored and revered her. May she Rest In Peace. She did well!
@techmom99. Read the fascinating Vanity Fair article on Mrs Bush. An excerpt: “June Biedler, who was one of Barbara’s best friends, remembers her as “very articulate, very witty,” and as “kind of a gang leader.” When the girls boarded the school bus in the morning, “Barbara would have decided ‘Let’s not speak to June today.’ Or Barbara would decide ‘Let’s not speak to Posy today,” and so the rest of us would obediently follow along and give that person a miserable time. And I don’t remember that there was ever a ‘Let’s not speak to Barbara today’ arrangement.” Biedler stresses today that she loves and admires Barbara Bush, and believes that her friend grew up to be a kind and generous woman. But as a teenager, she recalls, “I thought Barbara was really mean and sarcastic.” Among other things, she teased Biedler about her painful childhood stammer.”
Some of this behavior was just part of her personality and made her the complex, tough and admirable person she was.
Read also “One Last Time” the mournful and beautiful piece in today’s Washington Post about the death of Mrs Bush’s 4 year old daughter and how that changed her and the entire family.