Family, Faith Top Former First Lady’s List

There was talk about the electric blue convertible George Bush recently bought her, jokes about the time the former President threw up on Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and plenty of references to the former first dog, Millie the spaniel.

But in an early morning speech Saturday to several thousand credit union employees and shareholders, former First Lady Barbara Bush tempered her humor with her trademark messages of family, faith and volunteerism.

“God and faith is the constant in our life that we can most depend on,” she told her rapt audience, which offered standing ovations before and after her speech. “Also, we must make a commitment to family, especially if we have children.”

Bush went on to list statistics on youth violence, teen pregnancy and poverty that highlight what she called the sad state of the American family, and called on people to read to their children and set a good example for them by being honest, moral and strong.

Her keynote speech at the Disneyland Hotel Ballroom kicked off the third and final day of the California Credit Union League annual meeting and convention.

Bush mused that at times she’s unsure why certain groups ask her to address them, and this was no exception.

“George--you do remember George?--would be the first to say I’m not an expert in finances,” joked Bush, who revealed that a neighbor in Kennebunkport, Maine, personally invited her in a “very nice letter” to address the conference.

“Some people upstairs asked me about George, but more asked me about Millie,” Bush continued in a self-effacing style that some audience members said they found “hilarious” and “wonderful.”

The former first lady filled her audience in on a cruise her family took to the Greek islands last summer, complete with a visit to a nude beach, and gave a rundown of other duties and pleasures that now fill the lives of the former first family.

For example, the Bushes had 131 overnight guests in Maine this past summer and hosted 700 guests for lunches and dinners. “A couple of people, we honestly did not know who they were,” Bush said.

She also spoke of the visits to 21 countries and 35 states that she and her husband of 52 years have made in the past year, in part to inaugurate places and things named after them. A grove of trees in Houston now bears their name, and Barbara Bush is the namesake of four elementary schools, she said.

Then there is the more serious work: a conference on Asia held in Laguna Beach on Monday, where the former president had a second chance to impress Miyazawa.

“You all remember Kiichi. He was the one George threw up on,” Bush said to laughter. “This time he wrote to him and said, ‘Don’t worry, Kiichi, the dinner’s on me.’ ”