Watching Deadline right now. It must be hard to lose both parents in the same year

[demtenjeep]

but you know in your heart of hearts it was going to happen.

He lived longer than I thought he would. Wasn't he in the hospital a week or so after Barbara died?


I dislike bush the dummy more than I disliked bush the elder

As a student of History and a political science teacher, I love the pageantry of it all.

[Lucca2]

1. It's hard; happened to my husband

His parents died within 4 months of each other after lovely, long lives. His only sibling died more than 30 years before them. It took my husband some time to grieve.

[Maru Kitteh]

9. My deepest sympathies. It must have felt like he would never feel "normal" again

[Raine]

2. I do feel sorry for W and the

rest of the family, it's painful to lose one parent even as an adult but losing both in just over 6 months really doubles the grief.

[demtenjeep]

3. That is my belief

my parents died almost 20 years apart but when my mother died, it brought back all the pain of losing our father so young. He passed at age 65 on his official retirement day at the aircraft plant he had worked at for 40+ years

[DownFromTheMountain]

4. It is.

My Mom and Dad went closely together..it would still be hard however rich you are ,i suppose. if you had sincere feelings for the family, so God Bless, i guess..

[Jarqui]

5. With couples that have been together a long time,

it is quite common for them to pass fairly close together.

Often the grief from the passing of one, takes the other.

73 years is a heck of a long time

Just before he died, he talked of looking forward to seeing his daughter who died of leukemia at age 3 - showing again, a parent who never gets over losing a child.

[UTUSN]

6. I love *YOUR* feelings, I don't generalize human stuff to Bad-others!1

[Marie Marie]

7. Lost my parents 5 months apart - to the day.

However, they had been divorced for over 20 years so I was just more of a horrible coincidence. Mom suffered with cancer for over 2 years and Dad died suddenly from a heart attack. It was a truly awful year.

[GaYellowDawg]

8. I had no respect for W as a president, and didn't like his father much better

But I really felt for W today. No matter how anyone else felt about HW, he clearly respected and loved his father tremendously. Losing him will be one of the greatest losses of his life, and he will not go a day without missing his father. I understand; I respected and loved my father tremendously and still miss him after quite some years. Watching W struggle to hold it together to honor his father, I respected him and wished him strength today. I think as liberals, we should always strive for compassion in the face of suffering, and there's no doubt W suffered today.

[OhioBlue]

10. I noticed that too. He seemed more shaken today than in vidoes I have seen of him at his

mother's funeral. It must be especially hard to lose both parents so close together. When he lost his mom, I am sure many of his thoughts were of being strong for his father and now he must feel so alone and exposed to his own mortality. Thank you for the call to strive for compassion in the face of suffering.

[demtenjeep]

11. I was 30 when my father died of leukemia and today is the day my mom died 4 years ago I was 48

My mom, it wasn't unexpected, she was 79

My dad passed in 98 at the age of 65 and his death still pains me to my soul

[OhioBlue]

13. I'm so sorry. Hugs to you.

[Maru Kitteh]

14. well said. nt

[DFW]

12. I lost my parents at a relatively close interval

My dad went first (pancreatic cancer), and my mom was heartbroken after that (they were married 50 years), even if it was a stroke that finally killed her.

I try not to remember too often that I'm next, but I am. With a family history of heart disease and cancer, my chances of making it to 80 are close to none, so statistically, I don't have a lot of time left. The only thing one can do, whether you're an ex-president or a normal mortal like me is not dwell on it, look forward and upward, and try to "beat the reaper." I've done it once, and so has my wife (twice for her). We'll try to get away with a few more times.

Bush II was never my favorite kind of person, let alone politician. He graduated (a few years earlier) from the same high school I did. While I never met him, he apparently epitomized the kind of student there that I took pains never to hang out with (and at that school, that was most of them). But losing one's parents can be a great equalizer, even if for only a brief moment. I am quite willing to believe he is more than a bit shaken right about now.

[AnnieBW]

15. I lost my parents within 18 months of each other

It was tough on my Mom after Dad died. I can't imagine the Bushes losing both parents within 7 months of each other.