I think the reason why President H.W. Bush’s memorial is hitting so many of us so hard is because we are searching for a simpler sincere truth. We are searching for common values that can resonate with all of us, from our deepest inner beings. I don’t discuss politics with my friends. I don’t consider myself a particularly politically-oriented person, yet so many of my friends, in all different age groups, whose political leanings I honestly could only guess at, have expressed a certain wistfulness for the days when our country seemed easier to define. We had a unified pride in the United States, while still understanding that we had differences in opinions. The vision and love and respect for the United States seemed to be more of an understood commonality back then, than it seems to be now. A friend of mine who now has a grandchild, told a few of us, those of us who are mothers in our forties, that she hopes that we have raised a generation of children that will bring things back to a simpler, respectful honor. I do, too. . . . I do, too.
President Bush (’41) was supposedly a wonderful letter writer. He hand wrote many, many letters. I think that is the wonderful part of being naturally inclined to write. I told my husband recently that one of my favorite things about this blog, is that my children and grandchildren will have my voice. They may better understand me and thus, my influence on them, by my writings. That is why I aim to be as authentic as I can be, when I write. I want them to know me, at my very core, goodness and flaws. I want them to glean understanding of me, my points of view, my interests, my cares and loves, so that they can better understand how I may have touched their lives. I think that it is a blessing to have the need to write. I am so grateful for this inclination.
I watched an interview with Jenna Bush Hager, in which she was introducing her new baby daughter to George and Barbara Bush, her grandparents. Jenna asked her grandfather what words of wisdom that he thinks of, to give to the newly born babies of this world. He thought for a moment and then he stated very firmly, “Be true to yourself. To Thine Own Self Be True.”