USA TODAY International Edition
How Barbara Bush cartoon changed me
I drew it as a dad, and then it went viral
JACKSON, Miss. — This letter was sitting on my desk on April 25:
Your “Mama” editorial cartoon is destined to be a classic. My heart swelled as I took note of it because it brought back so many memories of our own loss and our desires to be able to see our own daughter again. Your cartoon said it all in such a moving way.
Our daughter, Vicki, had just turned 18, was beginning a life she wanted as a college student at Indiana University, when she was hit by a pickup truck on a rainy night in Bloomington, Indiana. Helen, my wife of 68 years, and I never had the chance to tell her goodbye. I just hope that at some point in time we are able to greet her as indicated by your touching artwork.
Thank you for such a heart-warming moment.
Sincerely,
Sutton
I read it a couple of times, thought of his and his wife’s loss and then of my own son who is about to go to college. It suddenly got dusty in the room.
Hours after the Barbara Bush obituary cartoon published on April 18, it went viral. It appeared on the Today show. It was mentioned during coverage of the funeral on several networks. Jenna Bush Hager put it on her Instagram, and Jeb Bush Jr. retweeted it.
The original and copies are now in the Bush family’s possession. My tweet alone received more than 8,000 likes. On my Instagram, 5,000. Many of you told me that you were proud of me, that I represented Mississippi well. Then the cartoon took on a life of its own. I began receiving hundreds of messages like Sutton’s.
It’s really special to all moms (including me) who have a child in heaven! It is a beautiful depiction of what we imagine it will be like to see our child again!! Cheryl Lindsey
Rachel Whalen from Vermont, who lost her daughter Dorothy, wrote a moving blog:
Thank you. Those words don’t seem nearly big enough right now for the incredible gift you have given our community. What community is that? I’m talking about our community of bereaved parents . ... We are a tribe of people being forced to live here on earth without one or more of our children . ... Your beautiful tribute to the beloved Barbara Bush and her daughter Robin reminded us of something very important: Our children are waiting for us. It hurts so much to be apart from them and I’m going to be honest, there is a part of me that is jealous that Barbara gets to see Robin again. I am waiting for my turn. But yesterday you published a piece of hope: Someday, we will be reunited, and I’m not sure I can articulate just how much that soothes the aching heart of the bereaved parent.
She signed it, “A parent who is waiting for her turn.”
Franklin Antoian, a fitness trainer in Delray Beach, Fla., tweeted me and asked, “Ever think you would help/give hope to so many people when you penned that cartoon?”
I answered, “I thought people would like it but I never anticipated that it would take on its own beautiful life. I just drew it from the perspective of a parent. I guess that’s why it works like it does.”
I’ve drawn many obituary cartoons. Usually, they are well-received but don’t go viral. What made this one different? Because I didn’t approach it as a cartoonist.
I drew it as a dad. I thought about an article I had read about Barbara Bush’s loss of her daughter Robin. Here was a person who had everything, yet had suffered the hardest loss a parent can face. I thought about my own kids, how much pain I would feel if I were her and how I would hope for healing — and then I came up with the idea.
Someone asked me, “Has the cartoon going viral changed your life?” Honestly, no, it hasn’t — but the stories from the parents have. I have been deeply moved by them. I realize how many people are walking around with so much pain. I’ve received the gift of empathy.
So yes, I’m proud of the cartoon. Not because I drew it or that it went viral, but because it gave good people who hurt a moment of joy. That’s all any artist can hope to do.
Marshall Ramsey is an editorial cartoonist for The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, a part of the USA TODAY Network. This column first ran at The Clarion-Ledger.