Remembering Barbara Bush

It can't be easy being the First Lady, every action your husband takes, every action you take, pushed under the microscope and ruthlessly dissected by opponents. Yet as we recall Barbara Bush seemed to always handle every situation in life the same. Whether you were her best friend or her worst enemy, she still acted with grace and kindness. The former First Lady was a shining example of a beautiful and brilliant life seeking to help others.“Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” said family spokesman Jim McGrath. (Chicago Tribune)Despite the adversity and challenges of life, Barbara didn't let the troubles of this world afflict her. Instead, she set a standard of quiet leadership, always doing, always showing us how to respond when the storms of life come our way. From the death of a daughter from leukemia to the rigors of the First Lady, somehow she managed to rise above it all and make the world a better place.Upon the diagnoses of her son Neil with dyslexia, Barbara was inspired to help once again, this time in a more public setting. With the love of a mother, she set to work researching and studying factors contributing to dyslexia and illiteracy. She worked vigorously to combat illiteracy and as First Lady founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy.

The outspoken First Lady from Texas (by way of New York) had her flaws, as we all do, yet even so, her reputation will always be that of a first lady who loved and acted with grace. As we remember Barbara Bush let us not focus on the discrepancies of humanity that afflict us all, but rather the vigorous love of a woman who treated this nation and its people as her own family.