Former President George H.W. Bush, who led the nation as a Republican from 1989 to 1993, died Friday night in his home in Houston, Texas. Although no specific cause of death has been announced at time of publish, the 94-year-old had been receiving treatment for a form of Parkinson’s disease. As the world remembers the 41st President’s legacy, including his diplomacy during the Cold War, granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager took to Instagram to pay tribute to her late grandfather.
Jenna—the daughter of Bush Sr.’s son, former President George W. Bush—dedicated two consecutive posts to her grandfather just hours after his death.
The first post, in slideshow format, begins with a joyful pic of her, Bush Sr., and Jenna’s twin sister, Barbara (who’s named after Bush Sr.’s wife, First Lady Barbara Bush). “Waking up missing this giant of a man who gave me everything,” she wrote. “He taught me and my family about service, family, decency, the power of gentle words and a beautiful heart. I will miss him desperately but so happy he and my Grandmother are back together.”
The second post is a touching cartoon drawn by Marshall Ramsey that depicts Bush Sr. reuniting with his wife and their daughter, Robin, who passed away of leukemia at age 3. It shows Bush Sr. flying a TBM Avenger, the same plane he flew in the Navy in World War II, into the heavenly clouds. The cartoon is a follow-up to the viral one Ramsey first drew for Barbara’s death in April.
The sweet cartoon got the attention of Jenna, who wrote, “this brought me such comfort this morning”—and it prompted her to share a recent conversation she once had with her late grandfather. As she wrote in the caption, “I had the opportunity to speak with my grandpa about the afterlife. This is what he said: He answered without any hesitation. “Yes, I think about it. I used to be afraid. I used to be scared of dying. I used to worry about death. But now in some ways I look forward to it.” And I started crying. I managed to choke out, “Well, why? What do you look forward to?” And he said, “Well, when I die, I’m going to be reunited with these people that I’ve lost.”
“And I asked who he hoped to see. He replied, I hope I see Robin, and I hope I see my mom. I haven’t yet figured it out if it will be Robin as the three year old that she was, this kind of chubby, vivacious child or if she’ll come as a middle-aged woman, an older woman. And then he said, ‘I hope she’s the three-year-old.’”
“Robin was the daughter this giant of a man lost years before to leukemia,” Jenna said. “The little girl he held tightly: who spoke the phrase I have heard Gampy repeat for my entire life, forever knitting Robin’s voice into the tightly woven fabric of our family: ‘I love you more than tongue can tell.'”
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