One More Jump
The first time George Herbert Walker Bush jumped out of an airplane was during World War II. That time he jumped because his plane was shot down during a battle with the Japanese.
Bush has parachuted a handful of times since then, including when he turned 80 and when he turned 85. Last Thursday he jumped one last time, this time to celebrate turning 90!
I didn’t find a picture I could use of this last jump, but here is a photo of one of his earlier ones.
President Bush’s wife Barbara was there to kiss her husband when he landed. His son, President George W., was there, too, along with daughter-in-law Laura, granddaughter Jenna, great-granddaughter Mila, and other family members and friends.
I like some of the politics of the Bushes, but by no means all of them. I do, however, respect the way they celebrate family.
When I wrote a lesson on what a President does all day for Uncle Sam and You, I chose a particular day in the presidency of “Forty-One” (that’s what the family calls the senior Bush; they call George W. Bush “Forty-Three”). On that day in 1989, “Forty-One” spoke on the phone with the prime minister of Italy and with the president of France. That evening he flew on Air Force One to an island in the Mediterranean.
That November was a crucial time in the Bush presidency. World-changing events were taking place in Europe. The Berlin Wall had just been torn down on November 9.
But, that wasn’t all George Herbert Walker Bush did on November 30, 1989. He had breakfast with Barbara, spoke with his son Jeb, and talked with his mother. The call between mother and son happened 58 minutes before he took off on Air Force One. I can just imagine that he wanted to talk to his mother before he went overseas.
George Herbert Walker Bush was sixty-four years old that day. At sixty-four and as President of the United States, he honored his wife, his son, and his mother. Don’t you know his mother was proud of her boy!
Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
Proverbs 23:22