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Kindle Notes & Highlights
While he was in the White House, Dad and his strategist Karl Rove had an annual reading contest. The first year, Karl won, but the race was close: his 110 books read to my dad’s 95. These days, Dad outreads us all.
While he never hid the fact that he was president, Gampy didn’t want us to think of him that way. He didn’t want us to be impressed by titles. Rather, he wanted to teach us that it was the family moments, the light moments, and the joyous moments, on which we should make our lasting memories.
Sometimes friendship is about opening your eyes to new places; sometimes it’s about making sure that you don’t see too much.
My parents, both of whom had grown up in homes with unconditional love and high expectations, opted to raise us in much the same way. There are many modern theories of parenting, but George and Laura Bush didn’t see a great need to deviate from what had worked to raise them. We were expected to be good people, to care about others, and to be responsible. Not unlike with Gampy, all it takes from my mother is a single look to know when you have fallen short.
It was also a profound moment for me as a daughter. I was watching my dad step up and do what he needed to do to comfort others. That’s what he had always done for me as my father; I knew that about him. I depended on it. But in this moment, that’s what he did for everyone. They could feel some of what I had always known.
“I guess what I want you to know as a father is this: Every Human life is precious. When the question is asked ‘How many lives are you willing to sacrifice’—it tears at my heart. The answer, of course, is none—none at all.”
He does not shy away from listening to and talking about their struggles with PTS (post-traumatic stress—he wants to permanently remove the “D” of “Disorder” from PTSD). He says, “We can’t not talk about it. We can’t pretend someone is fine when they aren’t.”
I look into the faces of the people I see: family, friends, colleagues, strangers, and I know that we are all, each of us, born to be someone’s love story.
(When I posted a photo of the two of us on Instagram, I had to remove some unkind comments below, saddened that just because our families came from two different political parties some believed we couldn’t share things in common.) I hoped I could help viewers to see that beyond any titles, there are real families and real people who live in this home called the White House. But the difference was, that didn’t just have to be my hope. Sitting in the interviewer’s chair, it was now my job to talk to Mrs. Obama in a way where I could do just that.
