World of love
Outpouring for Barbara lifts us up, says Pa Bush
I thought about Uncle Warren Tuesday after Barbara Bush died at the age of 92. You see, my uncle lives alone because my Aunt Arlene died a couple of years ago. And like Barbara Bush and her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, my aunt and uncle were married forever, and they made it look easy. Unlike the Bushes, they had no children of their own, but they had a host of nieces and nephews they doted on. My brother and I, two Brooklyn kids, spent summers with our grandmother in rural West Virginia, and my aunt and uncle, who lived there too, made the weeks go by like days. They spoiled us and all our cousins endlessly, and they enjoyed it more than we did. Now, we are returning the favor — the love — and comforting him in his grief. Not that he seems to need it. In the days after the love of his life died, my uncle was lifting our spirits with funny stories about the hoops he had to jump through to win my aunt’s affection. I’m sure he embellished a little, but that just made the stories more endearing. I like to think that President Bush is doing the same thing right now, telling his kids and grandkids about his first date with Barbara, the awkward kisses, the letters they exchanged. I hope his stories comfort and inspire them the way my uncle’s memories comforted and inspired us. A few days before Barbara Bush died, a relative reminded me that I need to go down South and pay my uncle a visit. I think I’ll make it happen.