Two years after her passing, we explore the remarkable life of former First Lady Barbara Bush with Jean Becker, the longtime chief of staff to George H.W. Bush and editor of the new book on Mrs. Bush, "Pearls of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice (That Go a Long Way)," and Mrs. Bush's grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who continues his family's long tradition of public service.
Two years after her passing, we explore the remarkable life of former First Lady Barbara Bush with Mrs. Bush's grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who continues his family's long tradition of public service, and Jean Becker, the longtime chief of staff to George H.W. Bush, and author of the new book from those who knew and learned from Mrs. Bush titled, "Pearls of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice (That Go a Long Way)."
They share stories from Mrs. Bush's eventful life—from leaving a life of East Coast privilege to live next to a brothel in Odessa, Texas, as a young wife and mother, to becoming First Lady in the White House—and discuss the indelible imprint she made on the nation and on those who knew her best.
[Podcast introduction with theme music in the background]
President Lyndon Baines Johnson: So it's all here, the story of our time—with the bark off.
Mark Updegrove: That was President Lyndon Baines Johnson upon the dedication of his presidential library in 1971. Since then, the library has played host to the biggest names and best minds of our day, who have helped to tell the story of our times through candid, revealing conversations—with the bark off.
This podcast delivers them straight to you. Welcome to “With the Bark Off.” I'm Mark Updegrove.
In this episode, we explore the remarkable life of former First Lady Barbara Bush, the wife of our 41st president and mother of our 43rd president. The new book “Pearls of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice (That Go A Long Way) is nominally written by Mrs. Bush but was actually put together by Jean Becker, the longtime chief of staff to George H.W. Bush. She joins us along with Mrs. Bush's grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who continues his family's tradition of public service.
[Slow fade of theme music. Conversation begins.]
Mark Updegrove: George P. Bush, Jean Becker, welcome to “With the Bark Off.” We're delighted to have you here today to talk about, uh, this wonderful book, uh, that you put together Jean called, "Pearls of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice (That Go a Long Way).” And uhm, George, we’ll start with you. I, I— There is, uhm, you’re of course the Land Commissioner, uh, in the state of Texas. Before you though, your grandfather was congressman from his district in, in Houston and your uncle, the governor of this state, but it speaks to your grandmother’s adventurous spirit that she wound up here in Texas at all. This debutante from Rye, NY who marries this well to do young man from Greenwich, Connecticut but they wound up in Odessa, Texas in the late 1940s. Talk about that chapter of their lives and what it says about your grandmother.
George P. Bush: Well, I think it, it shows that, uh, she was open for, uh, for really anything. She was game for any challenge or adventure, and, uh, really for my grandfather, I believe, uhm, whether it was during his public career as a private citizen, she was always willing to, uh, to stand with him. And so, uh, yeah, he— he had an incredible amount of opportunities after serving his country: graduating from Yale, as probably his proudest accomplishment was captain of the baseball team, uh, and as soon as he got his degree, uhm, had an opportunity to stay in the northeast, but— but felt a sense of entrepreneurship, a sense of calling to the oil patch in the 50s, and for many Texans were, were already steeped in the folklore of, uh, the Permian Basin and— and what it was like in the 50s, but for some of your listeners that probably weren't around or haven’t studied that time period, it was, it was an exciting time where Ivy League, uh, graduates were standing next to, to roughnecks from, from all parts of the country if not the world to, to look for that black gold. And I think it was formative for him, for my grandmother; the— the story she would always tell is that their first location in Odessa happened to be, uh, a brothel house, and they had a shared, they had a shared bathroom with, uh, two ladies of the night, as she would call them, and, uhm, so they kind of... when uncle George was around they figured out when to lock the door and when, you know, little George could go in there to relieve himself, but uhm, but stories like that, uh, stay with the, uh, the Bush childhood home that still located in, in Odessa and one also in Midland.
Mark Updegrove: It was not it was not a glamorous, it was not a glamorous beginning [laughter] to say the very [inaudible].
George P. Bush: Yeah, he paid his dues. I mean, I think one of his first jobs was actually painting, uh, 'thirsty birds’ or pumpjacks out— out in the field, and he would sell carts between here and Bakersfield, California in Southern California, uhm, and really was kind of, uh, a roadshow, a salesman on behalf of, uh, a company in the 50s. And again, this guy's carrying an Ivy League, uh, degree, World War II veteran, uhm, and my grandmother, uh, was, uh, raising Robin and— and George W., uhm, in, in a uh— in an interesting time period with, uh, an extensive boom taking place in West Texas.
Mark Updegrove: [inaudible] Jean, the, the, the—this is, uh, uh, nominally written by Barbara Bush, but really this is a product of, of your labor. You put this together and, and gathered stories from those who knew Barbara Bush and, and got valuable advice from her. But you’ve known the Bushes— you knew the Bushes for, for over 30 years. How did you come to know George and Barbara Bush?
Jean Becker: Uh, well it was sort of a backdoors sort of way. Uhm, I was a newspaper reporter. I do think there were times President Bush looked at me and thought “how do I have a former journalist as my chief of staff? How did that happen?” I, but, in 1988, I was a reporter for USA TODAY and a member of their election team and, I remember the first time I met George Herbert Walker Bush, he was vice president of the United States of America. And I traveled with him on Air Force 2 to South Dakota on a day trip and had been begging his staff all day long for an interview and finally fly, flying back to Washington that night they said the vice president will give you five minutes, so I walked to the front of the plane. I was absolutely scared to death. He was the most famous person at that point I’d ever interviewed. I had had interviewed Billy Joel by telephone, so I don't know if he's more famous than the vice president of the United States. But I remember, I sat down and, and I still remember he looked so tired, a little grumpy and he said “what do you got?” and I thought about that conversation, uhm, cause I also know the last words he said to me the, the day he died. He asked me how I was doing. And, and I love that I have both an opening and closing to our 30-year friendship, which was terrific.
I actually got to know Mrs. Bush better during the campaign because Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis did a weekly column for USA TODAY. Uhm, it was very popular. It was called “Behind the Scenes: On the Campaign Trail” and I was their editor. And when I first got the assignment, I didn't— I wasn't very happy about it. I really did not want to be their editor, but I ended up loving it. I fell in love with both women. Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis were both amazing in their own way, and then after the election, her chief of staff offered me a job in her press office…
Mark Updegrove: you worked in the first lady…
Jean Becker: I worked in the in the first ladies, I was East Wing staffer. I was one of the First Lady's deputy press secretaries, and I came back to Houston with them after President Bush lost the ‘92 election to help Mrs. Bush with her memoirs and then aft— then became President Bush's chief of staff. As my family and friends tease me, I just could never find another job.
Mark Updegrove: [Laughter] Geor.., George, uh, again this, this— this book “Pearls of Wisdom” is full of essays, uh, from folks who knew your grandmother, and of course, uh, uh including you of course, and, and it, it— it offers the advice that she gave them and your piece has the advice that she imparted to you and she said before you get into politics she advised you to be your own man, build a career, buy a house, pay taxes like everyone else, marry someone great all which you did, but it— it strikes me in that there is, there is no sense of entitlement and, and your, your grandfather— your grandparents didn't have that. Where did that, that— that sense of humility that defines the Bush ethos come from?
George P. Bush: Well I think people saw, uh, a flavor of that with, uh, my grandmother, and I hope she — I hope she doesn't spin in her grave when I say this, but when my dad decided to run for president, you remember, [inaudible] many Americans remember her saying, uh, last thing we need is another Bush. Uhm, you know, it was— she was very direct and, in her assessment as related to members of her own family, her own children, her own grandchildren, uh, for those of us crazy enough to think about politics, it, it— and if I could add something to that quote, she along with my grandfather, uh, were the ones to encourage me not to do it just because it's gotten so, so crazy at times and that there are other ways in which one can serve, uh, their fellow, fellow man. And so uhm, so I— I think when it comes to my grandmother who is all, also always known as the enforcer, uh, AKA the silver fox in our family, she, uhm what— would be very direct in terms of, uhm, her assessments, uhm, and [inaudible] willing to do so publicly when it came to her relative— own relatives.
Mark Updegrove: Hmm. Jean, there’s a, uh, wonderful piece in this book by Debbie Tate and Joan McCarley titled “Barbara Bush Visited Our Facility for Children with HIV/ AIDS. It was unforgettable.” Can you relate that unforgettable story?
Jean Becker: I was very lucky, in that I with her that day when, uhm, she surprised the whole world by going and she's not even— she’d not been First Lady very long and she definitely had in her mind some point she wanted to make and one of them concerned AIDS and people with AIDS and she announced to her staff that there— she wanted to go visit a place in Washington called Grandma's House, and this was a home for babies who had been born HIV positive. And at that point, it, it’s—it's hard to sometimes remember this, but in 1989 people with AIDS, people were scared to death of people with AIDS we— it started like the current COVID-19 pandemic. You thought if someone with AIDS sneezed on you, you were going to get AIDS and of course none of that is true, but they were definitely being marginalized in our society. So Barbara Bush, you know, goes over to this, this humble little home in Washington, D.C and hugs and kisses all these babies there’s, there's a picture went viral, I don't think the word viral even existed then, in that context, but she held this baby in her arms hugged and kissed this baby and it opened the door for people to rethink think how we should think about people who had AIDS.
And we had invited some adult AIDS patients to be there, to meet with her off camera, to talk about what they were going through, but on camera one of the, one of the men said to her “my family has disowned me.” I’m not— may not be able to tell this without crying and he said “what I crave is a mother's hug” and she gave him this huge hug, and again, it was that photo went around the world and it began changing attitudes in this country about people with AIDS. She was very outspoken about this issue.
Mark Updegrove: Jean, you mentioned COVID-19, and, and I, I had the great privilege of knowing George and Barbara Bush, and one of the things I often do is I wonder what they would do, or, uh, what they would tell me in certain situations in my life, what advice they might give me, uh, but we are defined right now at this moment in time by COVID-19. I want to ask you both, uh, what would George and Barbara bush say about COVID-19? What advice would they give us as we stare down this insidious pandemic?
George P. Bush: I would say that most of the country now being, you know, required to stay at home, um, my grandmother would be the first to say to, to back those statements, to back the recommendations of public health officials and to listen. And uhm, I, I think she would also as a— as a grandmother of, of eighteen and as a mother of, of— I call it six, uh, including Robin that she would ask for working families to be safe and healthy and to abide by social distancing measures. But, uhm, you know, what we need right now is, is calming words, people that can inspire and remind people that we've been through tremendous challenges as Americans but at the end of this we're going to become a stronger people, uhm, and I think she probably would have lent a— a very strong voice to that, uh, affect especially for those that are not abiding by the stay at home orders of our public health officials.
Mark Updegrove: Right. Jean, what so you think Barbara Bush would say during this moment in time?
Jean Becker: Well, I, uh, have been asked this question a couple of times, and I immediately thought of something that is actually in “Pearls of Wisdom.” It's a series of speeches she gave after 9/11, and I went and – and looked them up and sure enough some of the advice she gave after 9/11 is so relevant to what we're going through today, and I'm going to read just a couple of bullet points, uh, this was a speech she gave actually in 2002, uh, I— and this is where I got the title the book from because in this speech she said “what I would really like to do today is share some of the things I have learned in life, you could call them pearls of wisdom.” So, she gave ten bullet points, I'm just going to go— I'm just going to tell you two. “Number one: there's always something to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. Unfortunately, it seems to me that especially in these uncertain times people are always looking for the bad and never the good, but that's when it becomes even more important to look for the good. There are few situations, no matter how sad or tragic, where most of us can't find something to be grateful for. For friends and family, for our country, for our faith, it’s such a waste of energy to dwell on the bad and not rejoice in the good.”
I mean, is that—doesn't just resonate, doesn’t that sound like your ganny, George? [laughter] I love that, where, you know, just be grateful for— just find the silver linings of this. And the other point she made which is funny because it's what so many of us are doing now, this was advice number seven: “Learn not to waste time. It doesn't mean you have to work hard and play hard every single minute. Enjoying a good book, taking a nap on the porch, watching it rain, this is all time well spent. Staying angry at a friend, worrying about things you can't change, watching reruns on television, those are precious moments lost.” I love that except watching reruns on television. Nuh-uh. Not now, we're all watching [laughter] The Office, Friends, I mean, they— and she would get that. I mean, President and Mrs. Bush were obsessed with Law and Order. I, I [inaudible] remember Mrs.—I'll never forget Mrs. Bush said one time they watched it so often that before the opening credits were over they knew who the murderer was [laughter], so besides for the remix—except for the reruns part of this, again, this is just classic. Particularly, worrying about things you can't change, um, so her words just still really resonate today. And, and I do love what George said because she would be all over this stay at home and would be very angry at people who weren’t.
Mark Updegrove: You, you know to that end, Jean there’s a letter, uh, George to your dad, and his siblings in the book, uh, uh, uh a letter written by your grandmother that she actually never sent. She wrote it in 1994 after she and your grandfather left the White House, but one of the, the pearls of wisdom that she imparts in this letter is for heaven’s sake enjoy life. Don't cry over things that were or things that aren't, enjoy what you have now to the fullest, and speaks to today's world to your earlier point, Jean, but it also really speaks to her life after she left the White House. She and your grandfather had to reinvent themselves after haven been president and first lady and haven been voted out of the White House in 1992. Talk about that next chapter of their lives and, and what they did to, uh, to get on with their lives.
George P. Bush: Well, I think that, uh, I mean, when you look at my grandfather he, he actually took it, you know, very [inaudible] very difficult and [inaudible] difficult, uh, way. He took it—I think it took him about two years to really get over the, uh, the emotional, uhm, change really in his life, uhm, but at the same time what they pivoted toward was service to others and you saw that with the numerous initiatives between my grandfather and, uh, my new uncle Bill Clinton, uh, former president and, uh, the partnerships that they—the partnerships that they undertook, uhm, whether it was a response to the, uh, the, the tremendous cyclone in, in Southeast Asia or even after Katrina when my uncle was in office. Uh, but for my grandmother, you know, she just really put her head down and focused on issues like literacy and so even though, and this was one of her, you know, behind the scenes recommendations to the grandkids was there's ways to serve others without having to be in an office and so when you look at her philanthropic and her charity work that she did in Houston following 1992 when they moved back. It was— it was tremendous and some would say that it was more expansive than the four years that they had in the White House.
Mark Updegrove: Jean, what was it like to work for the Bushes during their post White House period?
Jean Becker: First of all, before I answer that question, I just wanted to follow up on something George just said. One of the Bushes greatest points of pride in the last few years was their grandchildren and how many of them were involved in community service, philanthropic service; it really, um, it just, it may—they were just so proud that their grandkids were, were giving back or being points of light, and I might add George, and I knows George knows this, President Bush was just beyond thrilled when George ran for office. It made him so happy, uh, because he was a big believer in public service and believed if you— sometimes you just have to get in the ring, so I have to embarrass George and just remind him of how proud is ‘Gampy’ was.
Uh, working for the Bushes in the post presidency, I became President Bush’s chief of staff about a year after he left the White House. And George is absolutely right, it took him a year or two to really figure out what the next chapter in his life would be, but once he got after, over –but once he got over leaving the White House and losing the election the man was exhausting. I loved him and it was an honor to work for him, but the words I feared the most in my life, I'm deadly serious about this was him coming into my office and saying, “Jean, I have an idea” and whenever he would say that I would be like, “oh no, what now?” And sometimes it be something really simple like “let's go get pizza for lunch” and I'd be [inaudible] “OK, fun, great” but sometimes it would be “I've decided I'm going to start parachuting out of airplanes.” “OK. OK. Let's, let's figure that out” or “I think I want to go back to Chichi-Jima where I was shot down in World War II.” I will say that working for him was never boring; it was always exciting; it was a great roller coaster ride.
And Mrs. Bush was not quite as energetic— energetic is not the, the right word. President Bush was just— President, I used to say to President Bush “when you die, we really need to dissect your body and figure out what it is that revs your engine.” He had more energy than anyone I knew, but it was just— it was, it was a lot of fun, and I love that you asked that question, Mark because it allows me to promote the book I'm writing right now [laughter]. I'm writing a book right now about President Bush's post presidency. I'm not writing as much as my editor thinks I am. I hope he doesn't listen to this podcast. It's a perfect time to write while we're in quarantine, but I get too distracted. But I’m writing a book about his post presidency and it's just such a reminder of how much he did, and yes, there is an entire chapter about the odd couple that would be George Bush and Bill Clinton.
Mark Updegrove: Uh, F. Scott Fitzgerald said infamously, uh, uh, there are no second acts in American life and George and Barbara Bush certainly prove him wrong in that case. Uh, uh, George one of the pieces of advice your cousin Lizzie Andrews drew from your grandmother was always have a great story. What, what is your favorite story of you grandmother?
George P. Bush: Well, for me it's, uh, community service, you know, when we were—when they were in the White House, she invited me for summer, uh, for about a month to, to live with them, and, uhm what a great honor it was, and, uhm— but [inaudible], you know, she required me to, to give back and to, uh, work in a, in a kitchen, uh, for the homeless during my time in the White House. She wanted to make sure that I had perspective, and so on the one hand, you know, she was just absolutely thrilled as a grandparent to be able to show these incredible experiences to her grandkids, but at the other hand, she realized this, this isn't available to everyone and that this is truly special and for us to maintain, uh, perspective. And so as I grew up, she made sure that I made [inaudible]— met my summer lists and, and got that correct but also took on summer jobs, uhm, and so, uhm, I thank her for that and, uhm, for those experience that I had growing up and making sure that I stay balanced through it all.
Mark Updegrove: Is there anythi—any aspect of your grandmother that would surprise people?
George P. Bush: Any aspect of my grandmother?
Mark Updegrove: Yes, that would surprise people like [inaudible] I wouldn’t think of that about Barbara Bush, you know, [inaudible] is there anything like that?
George P. Bush: Well, I, I think that, uhm, she was more, uhm, I think touching and compassionate than I think a lot of people gave her credit for because she has the reputation of being so unfiltered and so direct, but she really had such a kind, as my grandfather would say, kind and gentle side. And, and really, she would pepper you with, uhm, her, you know, her challenging demeanor only if she really, really liked you. So, you know, for some of us, we thought it was almost reverse psychology that the more trouble she would give you whether it was, uh, disciplining George W. or, or others that I’ll leave unnamed in my generation, uhm, that she truly love— loved them more.
Mark Updegrove: [inaudible]
Jean Becker: Uh, Mark can I just jump in?
Mark Updegrove: Please
Jean Becker: …and say George could not be more right. And, I, uh— I always, the people who she loved the most she wanted, you know, she wanted them, for them to get the most out of life and to be the best they could be and that's why I think she was the hardest on those people. And sometimes, when people would say to me, former staffers would say, even some of the current staff in the office George Bush at that time would say you know President Bush— Mrs. Bush, I'm sorry, Mrs. Bush is never ever yelled at me or had any sharp words for me, I, she's always been nothing but sweet to me. And I would always want to sort of pat them on the shoulder and say, “oh, I’m so sorry, that means she really doesn't like you all that much [laughter].”
She, she definitely was, and if, if—I'm going to make this a quick story. Uhm, one of the things that she, uh, definitely encouraged me to do over the years, and in a kind and gentle way, she would say, “Jean, for God sakes why don't you lose some weight?” And I think [laughter] she just really wanted me to be healthier and to lose weight, and so in honor of her, for this book tour for “Pearls of Wisdom,” which of course was cancelled after four events because the coronavirus, I was going to lose a lot of weight and I had this vision of myself making the book tour as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I hope some of your listeners watched that wonderful show on Amazon, and I was going to be cute and funny and where all these cute clothes. Well as it turns out, I eat while I write, and as it turns out, I also eat during the coronavirus, so I didn't lose 100 pounds. And I was started really down on myself and feeling really sad about it and sort of felt like I let her down, and then I remember one of the best pieces of advice she gave all of us. George has already referred to it in the letter [inaudible], you did, in the letter that, the, that George— or the essay he did for this book. She wanted everyone to be their own person, and she was huge on that. She said, “don't let anyone else define you,” and that's when I realized, I was not The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I would never be the marvelous Mrs. Maisel and that I wanted to do this book tour as The Literary Lizzo [laughter][inaudible], and now I know, right now, all your listeners, about a, mmm, a quarter of them, maybe a third of them are googling, “who the heck is Lizzo?” Cause when I told my sisters this, they had to google her, but anyway, I like being The Literary Lizzo.
Mark Updegrove: Jean, I asked, uh, George if he had a, a favorite story of, of, uh, his grandmother, but it, it occurs to me there’s another wonderful story during her years as first lady and that is the graduation speech that she gave at Wellesley College. Can you talk about how that came about? And why that was such an important moment in American life at that time?
Jean Becker: The students at Wellesley, all women school, had voted on who they wanted to be their commencement speaker, and their voi— first choice was an author named Alice Walker who was, wrote The Color Purple. And she declined, she said no. And the first lady of the United States was the second choice, she might have been the third choice. I think she was the second choice. So, they invited Mrs. Bush, and she accepted, and then these Wellesley seniors, there was this huge protest, I guess for all those who had voted for Alice Walker.
The, what the, what the theme of the protest was Barbara Bush was famous only for who she was married to. They felt she was not a good role model for women, and I think this was 1991 maybe 1990, they felt she was not… it was [inaudible] 1990 cause the 30th anniversary of that speech is coming up— that she was not a good role model; that she had been a stay at home mom; that she was old fashioned; she was a product of the 50s. I did not really realize until much later how much it hurt her feelings at the time and she would have had the perfect excuse not to go because President Bush had a huge summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev at that time in Washington and he brought his wife Raisa with her, so Mrs. Bush easily could have cancelled because her—she had obligations as first lady to entertain the first lady of the Soviet Union, but instead she took Raisa with her and off she went to Wellesley.
And she gave the speech, it was a stemwinder. It is still considered one of the best commencement speeches of all times. Every commencement season, I will see clips of that speech on TV. It's considered one of the top five, definitely one of the top ten, and basically what she said to these women is… she, well—she gave them a speech about ‘be your own person’ and if that means having a career, going for the corner office, be— wanting to be president of the United States, good for you. But it also means, if you want to be a wife and mother, that's what women's lib is all about, and of course they gave her a huge standing ovation, and I love seeing a lot of them interviewed when she died and they talked about how much they learned from her that day.
Mark Updegrove: George, we lost your grandmother two years ago this month. What, what is her legacy?
George P. Bush: Well, I think, its uhm, you know, certainly not only being known as the wife of the president but as a mother to another. I mean that, that's just a rare role in American history in and of itself. I think, uhm, you know, Texans probably have a closer view point as to her personality, particularly Houstonians, since they were, uh, lifelong residents even with their, uh, public service in Washington, D.C., they always consider themselves Houstonians, uhm, more than anything else which is, which is great. Uhm, but I think that, uhm, she’ll be known as somebody that as Jean talked about, you know, leading tran— the transition from the, uh, stereotypical, uhm, households of the 50s to the modern era and how she helped to redefine that and, and allow for women to achieve what they have and continuing to break glass ceilings, uhm, in many different industries in different, uh, walks of life in our country, so I— I think she’ll go down as a tra, transitional, uh, first lady historically. Uhm, I’ll always just know her as, uh, the disciplinarian in the Bush family, and we’re going to miss her [laughter][inaudible]. We’re gonna, we’re gon— the tough love, uhm, that was established by her and her incredible pearls of wisdom and so thankful that, that Jean worked so hard to put together these incredible anecdotes and stories and, uh, letters and— and interviews from, uhm, people from all parts of their lives which, uh, was really extensive and far reaching.
Mark Updegrove: Barbara Bush made her own mark as first lady but Jean as, as she was going through the paces in that role, it— did she look at any other first lady as a role model?
Jean Becker: She absolutely did, and I’m going to tease you, Mark. I think you know the answer to this question. It's a great question. She adored Lady Bird Johnson, uhm, President and Mrs. Bush developed a personal friendship with the Johnsons, which is another whole story in itself, but Mrs. Bush thought that Lady Bird was just an exquisite first lady and what really stuck with her was Lady Bird’s words about having a bully, bully pulpit. She advised I think every first lady who came after her you have this incredible opportunity to make a difference because as first lady you will have a bully pulpit that you will never get back again and boy did Mrs. Bush ever take advantage of that.
Mark Updegrove: Well I want to thank the Texas Land Commissioner, George P. Bush and, uh, Jean Becker, The Literary Lizzo for a wonderful conversation today [laughter]. Congratulations again on “Pearls of Wisdom” and, uh, we look forward to, uh actually I look forward to giving that out to folks this Mother’s Day, so thanks to both of you.
Jean Becker: Thank you.
George P. Bush: Thank you.
Jean Becker: Thanks for having us, Mark. Appreciate it.
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