Thank you, maggiefluffs, for posting this photo. For the few among us who do not know this bit of the family history... Geo.W was the primary comfort to his mother when his little sister died from cancer (leukemia, if I remember right). This had to be a primary influence in his life as a human being.
This family is not without flaw, of course, as is the case with most of our families. But, they are a beacon in the dark for us. They are an example of how we should try to overcome the slings and arrows of life. We must keep on trying to be there for one another, as GWB was for his mom, when she was grieving the loss of his little sister.
I am totally happy with the Bush family as our first family. Compare them to the totally dysfunctional dynasty in England. It is not the problems they have, but the way these are dealt with and overcome.
I admire GW the most for overcoming his "bottle battle", and living up to his destiny. I also admire his wife, who is an example to all of us wives and mothers of how to behave when confronted with circumstances we have not wished for, nor chosen.
I know some in the US do not "get it", but these are kinda like the dysfunctional members of our own family. We must tolerate them, and pray for them.
Maybe the Bushes are a good example to us of what we CAN be as a family vs. the Clintons who were an example to so many of what they ARE. Aspiring to be better, rather than rationalizing what is.....