BarbaraandGeorge H. W. Bushhad already overcome a lot in their73 years of marriagewhen, at last, the end became too obvious to ignore.

Two days before shepassed away last Aprilat 92, Mrs. Bush sat with her husband in the den of their Houston home “holding hands,” according to Susan Page’s new biography,The Matriarch, which recounts this scene of farewell.

The former first lady had long suffered from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In “failing health,” she decided not to seek further preventative care and “instead focus[ed] on comfort care,” her husband’s office said in a statement at the time.

Back at home, she and President Bush faced a future that, for the first time in more than 70 years, would see them split apart — if only for the moment.

“They gave each other permission,” Page writes, “for her to die, for him to live.”

The former president told his wife, “I’m not going to worry about you, Bar,” according to Page.

She told him: “I’m not going to worry about you, George.”

They shared a drink together, Page writes: a bourbon for her and a vodka martini for him — their favorites.

When Mrs. Bush died, her husband was there. “He held her hand all day today and was at her side when [she] left this good earth,” spokeswoman Jean Beckersaid in a statement after her death.

“He, of course, is broken-hearted to lose his beloved Barbara, his wife of 73 years,” Becker said of the president.

According toThe Matriarch, George W., Jeb and Neil visited their mother while she was in the hospital for the last time, after a fall.

“We had a great visit with Jeb, and then Neil read more of my book to us,” Mrs. Bush wrote in her diary, according to Page. “And we are laughing about so much. When he had to leave, Jeb took over reading.”

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Former First Lady Barbara Bush is reported to be in ailing health

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George H. W. Bush [& Wife]

When the younger George visited, “I was needling her just to keep her spirits up,” he told Page. “The doctor walked in and out of the blue she said, ‘You want to know why George W. turned out the way he did?’ Sure, the doctor said. ‘Because I drank and I smoked when I was pregnant with him.’ ”

In her last diary entry, Mrs. Bush did not shy away from the fact of her mortality.

“I’ve been in the hospital for forever and seem to not be getting any better, at least my breathing is not,” she wrote, according to Page. “Dr. Menderes [Amy Mynderse] came in and had a very sweet talk with me. As she rubbed my arm, she told me the most ghastly thing: She told me the next time I go home I will have hospice. I said, doesn’t that mean I am dying? She said yes. It was like being hit in the solarplex. I asked her to keep it a secret.”

But Mrs. Bush was not afraid.

“She truly believes that there’s an afterlife, that she’ll be wonderfully received in the arms of a loving God and therefore did not fear death,” George W. latertold the Fox Business Network. “And as a result of her soul being comforted on the deathbed, my soul is comforted.”

She had said as much herself in an interview with C-SPAN several years earlier,according to theWashington Post.

“I’m a huge believer in a loving God,” she said in 2013. “And I have no fear of death, which is a huge comfort because we’re getting darned close. And I don’t have a fear of death for my precious George or for myself because I know that there is a great God.”

Inan emotional eulogyafter his fatherdied seven months later, George W. said, “In our grief, let us smile knowing that Dad is hugging Robin and holding Mom’s hand again.”

source: people.com