They met when they were teens, not knowing where life would lead them. But one thing that never waned between former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush was their love.
Hours after news of the death of Barbara Bush spread, a simple love note between a Navy flyer and his fiancée is now going viral nearly 75 years after it was written, Fox News reported.
The letter starts with the future president writing “My darling Bar.”
He then recounts how he was happy to read their engagement announcement in the newspaper, Fox News reported.
“I love you, precious, with all my heart and to know that you love me means my life. How often I have thought about the immeasurable joy that will be ours someday. How lucky our children will be to have a mother like you,” he continued.
Bush also wrote, “This may sound melodramatic, but if it does it is only my inadequacy to say what I mean. Bar, you have made my life full of everything I could ever dream of -- my complete happiness should be a token of my love for you.”
The presidential couple met at a Christmas dance when she was 17, known as Barbara Pierce, and he was 18, and a naval aviator in training.
They were married Jan. 6, 1945. It was only four months after Bush was shot down over the Pacific. He named his Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber “Barbara” and was the youngest aviator when he earned his wings.
Barbara Bush died Tuesday at the age of 92. She will lay in repose from noon to midnight Friday at St. Martin's Church in Houston, CBS News reported. The public is invited to pay respects during that time. The funeral service will be by invitation only on Saturday.
She will be interred at the Bush family gravesite at the George Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station, Texas. The site will be open the day after her interment for visitors.
She was a big supporter of literacy. Instead of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy at http://barbarabush.org/.
Credit: Eric Shea
Credit: Eric Shea
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