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Mind, Body, Soul
Moms
By Mona Lease
Greetings, Gals!! Anybody ever watch Forrest Gump? Remember the scene
where he went with his would-be wife to her childhood home - now
deserted? She had enough pent-up anger that she started picking up
rocks and throwing them at the house. She ran out of rocks and sat down
in desperation. This is where Forrest uttered the unforgettable,
"Sometimes there just aren't enough rocks." The application here? Sorry
readers, I forgot Mother's Day. While I don't have the pent-up anger..
"Sometimes there just isn't enough space to write all of the words."
This essay is drawn from Susan Page's book, "The Matriarch: Barbara
Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty, published April 2019 by
Twelve Books. (I only printed excerpts)
HOUSTON - Barbara Pierce Bush knew she was entering the final days of
her long and eventful life.
She was 92 years old. She had taken a fall, breaking her back and
sending her to Houston Methodist Hospital. She was losing her battle
with congestive heart failure, among other ailments. Soon her Doctor
would come into her hospital room to have a poignant conversation. The
former First Lady would be going home again, the Doctor told her, but
this time to hospice care.
Once again, Barbara Bush turned to her diary. She had kept a journal,
sometimes intermittently, and in various forms, since soon she and her
husband and their toddler son Georgie, would be leaving the familiar
comforts of New England to move to the booming Oil Patch in Texas.
Seven decades later she made the penultimate entry. Her children were
always on her mind.
She wrote "Things I am Grateful for" across the top of the page to
draft a final letter them.
"Dearest Children, I have often though of writing this for a while."
This letter was never finished. It is illuminating...the final thoughts
of a woman...who for years led the list of most-admired women in the
world...was foremost...a proud and protective Mother.
It is easy to picture Barbara Bush sitting up in her hospital bed, her
mind sharp even as her body was failing, writing this letter. As ever,
she got straight to the point.
"Needless to say, I am most thankful for five men and one lady." This
is a reference to her husband of 73 years...George H.W. Bush...their 4
sons...George W....Jeb, Neil, Marvin...and their daughter...Doro.
Barbara Bush had a lifetime of consequential roles and historic ones.
Only she and Abigail Adams were both wife and Mother to Presidents.
Only Barbara Bush lived long enough to see her son in the White House.
She played a personal role in 6 of the past 10 Presidential campaigns.
She was an active and activist First Lady on issues of adult
illiteracy, HIV/AIDS and more.
She believed the most important job she ever held was that of Mother.
She believed that was the most important job anyone could ever
hold.
"We are in a transitional period right now - fascinating and
exhilarating times learning to adjust to the change and choices
we...men and women...are facing."
"Father and Mothers...if you have children...they must come first. You
must read to them and you must hug your children...and you must love
your children."
"Your success as a family...our success as a society...depends not on
what happens in the White House...but on what happens in your house."
Happy Belated Mother's Day to all you Moms out there. And to all you
childless gals out there who stand behind us Moms...Happy (helping out
Moms) Mother's Day. To you guys out there who are both Father and
Mother...keep trying. We Moms don't get everything right either. Keep
pushing, ya'll!!
The best is yet to be!!
"Sometimes all you need is for someone to just be there, even if they
can't solve your problems. Just knowing their is someone who cares can
make all the difference.: - sun.gazing.com MONA
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