The death of First Lady Barbara Bush, the wife of George H. W. Bush, and the mother of George W. Bush, is a major loss to the nation in so many ways.
Without Barbara Bush, neither President Bush would have become President, as she was the driving force behind her family.
Barbara Bush committed her life to public service, promoting the fight against cancer, which took her three year old daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3 in 1953; and also making the advancement of literacy her major commitment in the White House.
Bush never cared about her public appearance, and used to joke that she was old and fat, and had white hair, which had turned gray at a young age, in response to her daughter’s tragic death.
She was unpretentious, and made people she met feel comfortable.
She had ability to say controversial things at times, but she was able to win people over for her directness, and her honest assessments of people and situations.
Her marriage of 73 plus years was a model no longer followed by most Americans, as she was totally devoted to her husband, marriage and family, and in the world of 2018, that seems, sadly, old fashioned.
May she rest in peace, and likely, very soon, her husband will join her, and they will be together, at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A & M University.
Barbara Bush will stand out as one of the more prominent and public First Ladies for all time.