Jenna Bush Reveals Her Grandfather’s Fearless Thoughts About Death

Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and granddaughter of the late former President George H.W. Bush, shared memories on Instagram Saturday morning of her grandfather and his fearless thoughts about death.

In one of two Instagram posts, Hager shared a cartoon image of her veteran grandfather landing in Heaven in his World War II plane and being reunited with his late wife, Barbara, and their daughter Robin, who passed away due to Leukemia at age three.

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This brought me such comfort this morning. I had the opportunity to talk 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. 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.”

A post shared by jennabhager (@jennabhager) on Dec 1, 2018 at 4:21am PST

“This brought me such comfort this morning,” Hager said in the post, who then shared a conversation she had with her “grandpa about the afterlife.”

H.W. Bush said to her, “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.”

She went on to write:

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. 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.”

The other post Hager shared included images of Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara, posing with their grandfather as adults and a photo of them as children with their grandfather outside of the White House during Christmas:

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Waking up missing this giant of a man who gave me everything. 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.

A post shared by jennabhager (@jennabhager) on Dec 1, 2018 at 4:18am PST

“Waking up missing this giant of a man who gave me everything,” wrote Hager. “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.”