The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty

by Susan Page

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal,” she said then. “You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent.”

“I remember realizing life went on,” she said, “whether we were looking or not.”

“Like an oak in the wind, she was tossed, but she would not be moved,” author Richard Ben Cramer

“You have two choices in life: You can like what you do, or you can dislike it. I have chosen to like it.”

“The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends,” she went on. “For several years, you’ve had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work, and of course, that’s true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer, or business leader will be, you are a human being first and those human connections—with spouses, with children, with friends—are the most important

investments you will ever make. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal,” she told them. “You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, or a parent.”

But whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.”

her speech, Barbara Bush didn’t dismiss the value or appeal of careers, but she admonished women and men to put a priority on human relationships and, especially, children. At a time of a cultural clash over the role of women, her down-to-earth manner, her lack of defensiveness, and her humor enabled her to address life’s balancing act in a way that respected combatants on both sides.