{"id":382,"date":"2018-04-18T13:28:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T13:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?p=382"},"modified":"2018-04-18T13:28:52","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T13:28:52","slug":"farewell-barbara-bush-first-lady-literacy-advocate-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/04\/farewell-barbara-bush-first-lady-literacy-advocate-leader.html","title":{"rendered":"A Farewell to Barbara Bush, First Lady and Literacy Advocate Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbara-Bush_credit-public-domain\"<\/a>Former First Lady Barbara Bush died on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. No official cause of death has been announced, but Barbara had been treated previously for a thyroid condition known as Graves\u2019 disease and her health had been failing. Earlier this week, she decided to refuse further medical treatment after a series of hospital visits and instead chose to spend her last days in \u201ccomfort care\u201d with her family. She was 92 years old.<\/p>\n

Barbara Bush was the only First Lady besides Abigail Adams to be both the wife and the mother of a U.S. president. Unlike Adams, who died before John Quincy Adams\u2019 inauguration, Barbara saw both her son and her husband fulfill their terms as President of the United States. Her husband, George H.W. Bush was the 41st<\/sup> president, and her son, George W. Bush, was the 43rd president. George W. Bush said that \u201cMy dear mother has passed on at the age of 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was. Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

George W. Bush\u2019s statement refers to both Barbara Bush\u2019s tendency to bring humor to situations as well as her well-known campaign to improve adult and childhood literacy. Like many First Ladies, Barbara chose a cause to champion while her husband was in office. When asked why she chose to focus on literacy, Barbara said, \u201cI chose literacy because I honestly believe that if more people could read, write and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our society.\u201d To that end, Barbara founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in order to help parents and children from disadvantaged communities learn how to read and write.<\/p>\n

Tributes and condolences for the Bush family\u2019s loss have come from across the political spectrum. Barack and Michelle Obama lauded Barbara for \u201cthe way she lived her life\u2013 as a testament to the fact that public service is an important and noble calling; as an example of the humanity and decency that reflects the very best of the American spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald and Melania Trump described Barbara as \u201can advocate of the American family\u2026She will be remembered for her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Houston mayor Sylvester Turner promised that \u201cthe City of Houston and the Houston Public Library Foundation will work to complete the master planned improvements to the Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza\u201d in \u201cloving memory\u201d of Barbara.<\/p>\n

NFL player JJ Watt said that Barbara was \u201ca beautiful light in this world\u201d and that he was \u201cforever thankful for [her] friendship.\u201d Similarly, the Texas Rangers stated that Barbara Bush would \u201cforever be in our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The King Center offered their thoughts and prayers to the Bush family and tweeted that they hoped the \u201cfamily [would] be comforted by sweet memories and encouraged by the love that former First Lady #BarbaraBush deposited.\u201d<\/p>\n

No doubt the tributes will continue as the nation remembers the \u201cSilver Fox\u201d with her grace, humor and ever-present pearls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former First Lady Barbara Bush died on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. No official cause of death has been announced, but Barbara had been treated previously for a thyroid condition known as Graves\u2019 disease and her health had been failing. Earlier this week, she decided to refuse further medical treatment after a series of hospital visits…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[137,138],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bush","tag-first-lady"],"yoast_head":"\nA Farewell to Barbara Bush, First Lady and Literacy Advocate Leader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former First Lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday evening at the age of 92. Barbara was a tireless advocate of literacy during her time as First Lady.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/04\/farewell-barbara-bush-first-lady-literacy-advocate-leader.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Farewell to Barbara Bush, First Lady and Literacy Advocate Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former First Lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday evening at the age of 92. Barbara was a tireless advocate of literacy during her time as First Lady.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/04\/farewell-barbara-bush-first-lady-literacy-advocate-leader.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Where Hope Lives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-18T13:28:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/files\/2018\/04\/Barbara-Bush_credit-public-domain.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Hertzenberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Farewell to Barbara Bush, First Lady and Literacy Advocate Leader","description":"Former First Lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday evening at the age of 92. 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