Fair Winds and Following Seas, Mr. President

While my husband was in the US Air Force he served under Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. 

Bush was just one of the guys. He loved our Nation's military and really wrestled with sending our brave young men into Iraq to stop Sadaam Hussein, who had invaded Kuwait. My husband served in both Desert Shield and later Desert Storm with the United States Air Force, 33 yr retired. He was a flight engineer on the C-141 and the C-5.

No matter which side of the aisle you are on, Bush 41 was definitely one of the good guys. He and his wife, Barbara, are now at rest in heaven with their daughter Robin, who died from Leukemia at age 3.

I truly hope in reviewing how he lived his life, with humility and respect for others, we all realize how precious life is and decide to move the country forward instead of continuing to fight with each other.  Bush 41 didn't skip a beat or miss a minute of life. I can't imagine the pain of actually losing your daughter to cancer & I nearly lost my own daughter, but in the early 1990's, the chemotherapy she was on, made all the difference. She survived Stage IV  cancer after her relapse & she had a very rare form of childhood cancer.

In 1944, Bush was shot down over the pacific, losing his 2 other crew members. He was found floating in a raft, and was picked up and rescued by a US Sub. He survived that day and I'm grateful to God that he did. This week, I learned a lot about him that I hadn't heard before. It made me love him more as well of making me proud as an American.

He never blew his own horn, but then, that was one of the characteristics of the "Greatest Generation," and he was one of the best of that generation. 

You will be missed Mr. President, but you will never be forgotten.

Fair Winds and Following Seas, President George Herbert Walker Bush. God speed.

At the beginning of the service today, I noticed a 6' grand piano sitting near the orchestra. I knew immediately who it was there for. After 9/11, Bush 43 asked Michael W. Smith to write a song to commemorate what had happened on that day. Michael became friends with their family & became just one of their "Brothers (and Sisters), from another Mother." 

At today's Memorial for President George H.W. Bush, he played his huge hit "Friends." I couldn't help but notice that he had been weeping himself. Let's face it. Dubya was a hard act to follow today. He got emotional right at the very end. He has lost both his Mother and his Father within 7 months. That's got to be very difficult and I will keep their family, friends and extended relatives in my thoughts and prayers.

Here's Michael with the choir & orchestra at todays memorial service at the National Cathedral in DC, celebrating the life of our 41st President, George H.B. Bush.