Jenna Bush Hager's Touching Tribute to George HW: 'He and My Grandmother Are Back Together'
“Waking up missing this giant of a man who gave me everything,” Jenna Bush Hager wrote in an Instagram post honoring her grandfather who passed away Friday night.
George H.W. Bush was a leader of this country, but also a fierce family man.
His granddaughter Bush Hager posted two pictures of Bush on Instagram the morning after his death. The first showed Bush Hager and her twin sister, Barabara Pierce Bush, standing at their grandfather’s side with grins on their faces.
“He taught me and my family about service, family, decency, the power of gentle words and a beautiful heart. I will miss him desperately but so happy he and my Grandmother are back together,” Bush Hager said.
In the second photo, a young Bush Hager is pictured with her cousins saluting as Bush smiles alongside the children.
Bush Hager also posted a cartoon by Marshall Ramsey that showed Bush arriving in heaven in a WWII fighter jet. His late wife Barbara was waiting for him with Robin — their 3-year-old daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953.
“We waited for you,” cartoon Barbara says.
In her caption, Bush Hager wrote, “This brought me such comfort this morning. I had the opportunity to talk with my grandpa about the afterlife. This is what he said: He answered without any hesitation. ‘Yes, I think about it. I used to be afraid. I used to be scared of dying. I used to worry about death. But now in some ways I look forward to it.'”
Jenna continued, “And I started crying. I managed to choke out, ‘Well, why? What do you look forward to?’ And he said, ‘Well, when I die I’m going to be reunited with these people that I’ve lost.’ And I asked who he hoped to see He replied, ‘I hope I see Robin, and I hope I see my mom. I haven’t yet figured out if it will be Robin as the three-year-old that she was this kind of chubby, vivacious child or if she’ll come as a middle-aged woman, an older woman.
“And then he said, ‘I hope she’s the three-year-old.’ Robin was the daughter of this giant of a man lost years before to leukemia. The little girl he held tightly, who spoke the phrase I have heard Gampy repeat for my entire life, forever knitting Robin’s voice into the tightly woven fabric of our family: ‘I love you more than tongue can tell.'”
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Bush had suffered a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and was hospitalized several times for pneumonia over the years. He was reportedly being treated for low pressure just days before his death, according to the Daily Mail.
Bush was born on Jun. 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and became a war hero in his late teens, flying 58 missions off the carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto.
He married 19-year-old Barbara Pierce in 1945. She passed away on April 17, 2018 — just a short eight months before her husband.
Bush became the 41st president of the United States in 1989. He lost his bid for re-election the next term against Bill Clinton.
Our thoughts are with the Bush family during this difficult time. George H.W. Bush will be remembered as a man of honor and grace, and we know that he is happy to finally be united with his love Barbara and young daughter Robin.
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