Posted on 04/05/2003 2:33:29 PM PST by ohioWfan
A little less than one year ago, my husband and I had the privilege of attending the 18th Annual John M. Ashbrook Memorial Dinner at Ashland University, after which I posted this report of a most memorable and informative evening with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netenyahu.
Last night, we had the opportunity to attend the 19th Annual dinner, with its featured guest, former First Lady Barbara Bush, and though the evening was somewhat less erudite, it was, as expected, an altogether delightful experience!
John Ashbrook, a prominent and respected conservative Congressman from Ohio who died in 1982, was honored by his family and friends by creating a university based institute for the study of public affairs in his name. The Ashbrook Center is integrated into the Ashland University academic program, and champions, as did its namesake, the politics of freedom, the principles of limited constitutional government, and the ideals of intellectual, moral and thoughtful citizenship in the students who are chosen to participate in the program.
Each year since its 1983 inception, a Memorial dinner is held to promote the Institute and raise funds for its programs. This year’s dinner was attended by more than 800 people, and was second in attendance only to the first one, which boasted a fairly well known speaker……the then sitting President Ronald Reagan!
Prior to the dinner, we attended the VIP Reception, where Barbara Bush greeted the guests, and stood and posed with those who wished to have a photo taken with her. The room was packed, and the line to meet her very long. We waited in line for about an hour, chatting pleasantly with the people around us (it’s so nice to be among fellow conservatives!), anticipating meeting the much admired “First Mom.” We had been there for a while before we heard applause from the other side of the room and knew that the First Lady had arrived. For a long time, all we could see were brief glimpses of that glorious white hair from between the heads of the guests, but as we got closer, we got an ‘up close and personal’ view of Barbara Bush.
She is lovely!! She is shorter than I thought she was, and looked very trim in a royal blue jacket accented by a flag pin, a navy skirt, ‘sensible shoes,’ and wearing her trademark triple strand of pearls. We were all impressed with the fact that she has not aged in recent years. I was carrying her Memoir (1994) with me, and she looks identical to the picture on the cover! She was smiling, chatting with people around her, laughing, putting her arms around those complete strangers who came to express their admiration for her (especially amazing since she is 77 years old!)………and I could see immediately the characteristic she shares with her eldest son, of loving people and treating them all with great regard and respect.
There had been people who had not gone to the end of the line to wait and who merged with the line in the middle, and I, showing uncharacteristic restraint, kept myself from yelling out “NO cuts!” but as we got very close to her, the powers that be came up and stopped the line two people in front of us because time had run out! At that point I couldn’t help myself, and I cried out “NO!” (Well, not very loud). The woman who had stopped the line said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” repeatedly, but I just kept saying “NO!” I could NOT have come this close to this woman whom I had admired for so many years, only to be stopped from meeting her by a few feet!
Well………Barbara Bush looked over at me, smiled, and broadly gestured at me to come on over! I impulsively mouthed the words, “I love you” to her, and my husband and I walked over, got on either side of her, she put her around us, and the picture was snapped!
All I got to say to her was, “I sent you some pictures” (the sketches I’d drawn of her Georgie when he was young), and she said, “Did you?” and that was it. We were whisked off and a few others behind got the chance to have their picture taken with her too. We found out later that she will sign every picture and they will be sent to us in the mail! What a wonderful woman!
After the reception, we walked over to the building where the dinner was held, both of us grinning from ear to ear. Our table was toward the back of a very large room, with hundreds of people in it, where we were seated to await dinner, and the remarks of the First Lady. When she walked into the room, the crowd stood and erupted in applause as she made her way to her table. She stood there for a while as the applause died down, but continued, and we heard her say loudly in a very motherly tone, “Sit down!” Our whole table burst into laughter!
Following a beautiful prayer of invocation, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom to the son of our speaker, and the safety and protection of his family and our troops, and a heartfelt rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, we ate our dinner, and shared conversation mostly about the war and the young men and women, many from this area, who are serving.
The First Lady was introduced beautifully by Peter Schramm, director of the Ashbrook Institute (who had described her in local press releases as a “Shakespearean” figure). It was mentioned that she shared an honor historically only with Abigail Adams, who was both the wife and mother of Presidents, but that she might stand alone in history, because the Bush family might not be done producing Presidents!
She began her remarks by saying that she didn’t know that this was a white tie dinner and that she thought that Schramm was a waiter, then commented that this was “a whale of a crowd.” Mrs. Bush said that she was taken to wait in ‘a bathroom’ and that she was intimidated by the fact that there were pictures on the walls of some 20 former speakers, and that she knew all of them……….she didn’t like them all, but she knew them!
She then said “George sends his best,” and that he wasn’t worried about sending her there because she would be among “right thinking people.” The First Lady then shared her Ohio roots…….both her mother and father were born here and met at Miami University in Oxford, and her maternal grandfather had served on the Ohio Supreme Court…….. and said that though she was not born here, she felt right at home. She said, “Quite frankly, it’s a relief for me to be out of the house and away from the television. As you can imagine, it’s very difficult for George and me to watch the news every night, and like almost everyone else we find it almost impossible to stop.”
The First Lady said that she and George are praying……praying for the troops, and for the President. She said that as parents, it’s hard to hear criticism of their son, but as she watches George W. guide our country through this most difficult time, she cant help but wonder if this is the same kid she used to spank and tell him to clean his room! After that, she made no reference to the war.
As an update on her family, she said that though they were spread around the country, in Florida, Texas, Connecticut and Washington D.C., they were able to spend a lot of “quality time together,” and provide support for each other.
She then followed her introductory remarks with a list of 8 motherly pieces of advice for her audience.......
Word of advice #1…….”Don’t lend the car to anyone you gave birth to, or they gave birth to.” Among other bits of advice and anecdotes under this general category, Mom Bush said don’t criticize their clothes, because what they put on might be tighter and shorter than what you told them to take off…….Follow the advice on an aspirin bottle – take two pills and keep away from children…….and you can’t hide broccoli in a glass of milk (this was a lesson learned, not from her grandchildren, but from her husband!).
Barbara told the audience that her husband was having an identity crisis now that he was just a number…….41! She mentioned the familiar question asked…..what do you call them when both Presidents are together? The Presidents Bush, or the President Bushes?? She then said the solution they had come up with was to call them 84!
The First Lady then shared the hilarious story about the town meeting where both George and Jeb were together, and a young lady asked them if they had eaten together as a family. The President then quipped that they ate together unless their mother was cooking, and Jeb doubled over in laughter on the platform behind him. George W. then looked straight into the camera and said, “Just kidding, Mom!” after which he made some comment about her being fast food queen of the world! Barbara then said, that while she may not be a great cook, she is a great eater!
After that tale of characteristic self-deprecating humor, she then told one of characteristic sharp wit. She mentioned the well-known ‘pretzel incident’ and said that unlike the pundits who speculated as to its cause, she knew the truth about what it meant……..Heaven was sending a message to her son to stop making fun of his mother!
Word of advice #2………… "Learn not to take life too seriously." She told the story of a classroom she had visited where she was introduced as the President’s mother. She later found out that one little boy went home and told his mom that he had met George Washington’s mother! Her advice was to quite making excuses and get involved………and have fun doing it!
Word of advice #3………."Never ask someone over 70 how they feel." They might just tell you! Then she added that she was actually feeling just fine, but that you should still not ask anyone else that, because our own aliments are much more interesting!
Word of advice #4……..Remember what’s important in life. The first thing she mentioned was tolerance of those who are different from you, mentioning an illustration of a box of crayons which, though different colors and conditions must all live in the same box.
Word of advice #5……."Learn not to waste time." She clarified that it didn’t mean to be busy all the time, but that reading a book or watching the rain are valuable ways to spend your time.
Word of advice #6……."Don’t’ forget to spend quality time with your children and grandchildren." To this point she said, “Character does count.” (And I said a hearty "Amen!") (She interjected the story of a minister giving a children’s sermon at an Easter service where he asked the kids what’s warm, furry and hops around, and he got no answer. He then added, what’s warm, furry, hops around, and has big ears, and again got no answer. Finally in frustration he again gave the list of characteristics, and said asked again what it was, and one child said, “I know the answer is supposed to be Jesus, but it sure sounds like a bunny.” ). She said that she was worried about the children, especially those who have two parents working and caught up in careers, that they are not getting the time they need from their parents.
Word of advice #7…….."Don’t forget, one of the best ways to spend time is to read," after which she gave a little plug to the successes of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
Word of advice #8………"Help your country by taking an active part in your community." She said that how you got involved would differ according to your own interests and style, stating that for George W. being involved means to go out and get busy doing something to help, and for her George it meant going out into the yard, holding hands and singing “God Bless America!” But the point is to become a good neighbor, and do your part.
She shared the story of Charles Plom, a pilot who was shot down and became a POW in Viet Nam, who later in life met the man who had packed his parachute, and saved his life. He said that he probably had looked down on the men who did such menial tasks, and thought himself better because he was a pilot, but that those who did those jobs were just as valuable as those who did more ‘important’ things. Mrs. Bush said that that’s what community service is all about.
In the question and answer session that followed, the First Lady showed all the wit and humor for which she is so much loved. When asked for her favorite story about George W., she told of how he, as a 6 year old boy, comforted her after the death of his 3 year old sister, Robin, and shared how he called out to a neighbor boy that he couldn’t come out and play because he had to play with his mother. She said that he was a wonderful son, and that she and her husband never worried about him (though he did have fun in college!).
Another story she told was of a houseguest who found a Bible in a room and was told that George W. had been there, and then found a Living Bible in the sauna, and was told again that George W. had been there. The guest said that he would ‘outgrow’ that…….to which his mother said happily, “He never did!”
The next question was “What do you do when 41 and 43 disagree?” to which she said, “Keep my mouth shut!” Then she added that they rarely do. She then shared that she and George feel exactly the same way about their children as other parents do when they do well (like get straight A’s or become President!). She said that it was the same thing for them as it was for any other parents who loved their children.
In other comments following questions, she said that they had lived in 27 different houses, adding that it was a good way to clean your closets! She also said that because they moved so much, her children learned to rely on each other, and became even closer to each other.
When asked what international leader she admired most, she quickly said, “George Bush” before the question was even finished! Then she added a list of others including Margaret Thatcher and Anwar Sadat.
In other moments of lightness, she said that her husband often tells her to “chill out,” and that one area where she does that is in criticism of her son……she said she doesn’t even hear it……that she only listens to the “right people.”
When asked what characteristics of her husband’s leadership style are shared by her son, she listed surrounding himself with good people (which got much applause), respecting people and their time, that he had worked hard and paid taxes, gave credit to others (her husband to a fault), that they were both decisive, left the fighting of the war to the military where it belonged, and believed in God and family. (She also mentioned that Barbara and Jenna were both doing very well, Barbara at Yale, and Jenna, getting A’s at Texas….. spoken like any other proud Grandma!)
The final question had to do with the spiritual training of children, to which she said the most important thing was to set a good example for them yourselves. Don’t send them to church and Sunday school, take them. Teach them things like good sportsmanship, and give them “all the love in the world.” (And added that though her children may not be perfect, they are certainly loving).
It was all very good advice from a ‘Mom’ who has obviously been successful in raising loving, honorable children who know what it means to serve. We came away from this lovely evening with even more respect and love for this charming, gracious, witty and wise woman who has made history and experienced amazing things, but treats you like a good friend. She could so easily feel that she is better than others because of her experiences, travel, position and wealth, but everyone who has met her feels like she is not above us, but one of us.
It was truly a memorable evening with a wonderful lady, an evening, filled with laughter and warmth……..and one that we will never forget!
Great mother.....great son!
TC
Thank You for your awesome report of a grand evening.
Still waiting for our first call........
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.......and I knew you would like hearing about this fabulous lady!
(Have your husband read it!)
Thanks, mamaduck.......good to see you!
I will never forget that moment!
My favorite BB story is the morning after GHWB was elected POTUS, Barbara headed for the walking trails of Memorial Park in Houston.
After a few minutes she asked the SS, "Where are all the people?" because Memorial is one of the most popular in Houston. They told her, "The other people aren't allowed in because you're here." She had gone to the park to celebrate and be with "real" people and her response was, "I want to go home."
That is reportedly when she realized the difference between V.P. and President, and how much her life had changed.
People like Barbara Bush (and her family) who live for others, and have fun with life, spread joy wherever they go......
Glad to be a conduit of that joy!
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