George and Barbara Bush, a 'storybook' 73 year marriage

George and Barbara Bush, a 'storybook' 73 year marriage

Still in love with the man I married 72 years ago,' Barbara Bush said of her incredible relationship with George HW Bush shortly before she passed away at her home in Houston on Tuesday.

The simple, yet poignant, statement is a testament to the couple's incredible love story, which began at a Christmas dance in Connecticut when they were both teenagers, and went on to span nearly 80 years.

During that time, the couple faced triumphs and heartache together, both personal and professional, had six children, including President George W Bush, and 14 grandkids, eventually becoming the longest-married couple in presidential history. 

And on Tuesday, as Barbara passed away, her husband of 73 years was by her side, having held her hand all day.

Not long after her de*th, the former president issued a short statement about his wife's de*th, paying tribute to the 'relentless proponent of family literacy'.

The announcement came just days after it was announced that Barbara had been admitted to hospital for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Soon after, she made the decision to refuse further treatment, and return home to be with her husband and family.  

As family, friends, and political leaders both past and present paid public tribute to Barbara, her enduring love for her husband and her phenomenal devotion to her family were given due respect and praise by many. 

Her grandson George P. Bush described her as a 'top adviser and confidante' to his grandfather, while President Donald Trump and his wife Melania spoke of Barbara's 'unfailing' service to her country and family. 

But it was Barbara herself who perhaps described it best, offering an intimate insight into her relationship with George in a romantic essay penned for her alma mater's magazine, which was published just last month.  

'I am still old and still in love with the man I married 72 years ago,' she wrote at the time, before later going on to say: 'George Bush has given me the world. He is the best — thoughtful and loving.'  

Sharing a tribute to her beloved grandmother on Instagram, Jenna Bush Hager said of Barbara's marriage to George: 'She adored my Gampy, the first man she ever kissed; their love story is so ingrained in the history of our family.' 

When honoring their 'remarkable' rock-solid relationship on the Today show on Monday, the 36-year-old NBC correspondent had noted that Barbara was spending her final days by George's side, 'the man she's loved for over 73 years'.

'They are surrounded by family, but I think the fact that they're together and that he still says, "I love you Barbie" every night is pretty remarkable,' she added.      

The former president was a naval aviator in training when they met.

'I'm not much at recalling what people wear, but that particular occasion stands out in my memory,' he recalled of the moment in his autobiography.

The band was playing Glenn Miller tunes and he asked a friend from Rye, New York, if he knew the girl across the room in the green and red holiday dress. 

The friend introduced him to Barbara Pierce, a publisher's daughter from Rye who was studying at Ashley Hall finishing school in Charleston, South Carolina, and was in the area on a Christmas vacation.

Clearly captivated by Barbara, George immediately struck up conversation with her, revealing in his autobiography that they actually sat out their first potential dance together because 'he didn't waltz'. 

'[We sat out] several more after that, talking and getting to know each other,' he went on, before saying of their first night together: 'It was a storybook meeting.' 

When he returned to finish his education at Phillips Academy in Andover, she went back to school in Charleston, however it was just a matter of months before they had met each others' parents. 

While they were apart, George and Barbara kept up their long-distance romance by writing letters to one another - a tradition that grew when George went away to fight with the Navy in World War II in mid-1942, forcing them apart once again. 

During his time in the Navy however, George proposed, and he and Barbara became officially engaged in August 1943, a fact that was celebrated in a letter to 'My darling Bar' from 'Poppy' just a few months later.   

My Darling Bar, This should be a fairly easy letter to write,' George began, going on to say that 'it should be simple for me to tell you how desperately happy I was to open the paper and see the announcement of our engagement'.

'But somehow I can?t possibly say all in a letter I should like to,' he 

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