Jenna Bush Hager Reveals What One of Barbara Bush’s Last Emails to Her Said

Former First Lady Barbara Bush passed away on April 17 at age 92, and her family has been speaking out in remembrance of the political matriarch in the days since.

Bush’s granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager paid tribute to her grandmother on the Today show Thursday morning, sharing one of the final emails Bush sent to her before her passing.

The Today correspondent shared that the email arrived with the subject line “You.”

“In the body of the email, you wrote, ‘I am watching you. I love you. Ganny.’” Bush Hager revealed.

In addition to the email, the 36-year-old read a letter she had written addressed to her grandmother.

“You are our family’s rock, the glue that held us together,” she read. “I hope you know in your final days how many people prayed for you. How many people told me they loved you. People stopped me everywhere — in airports, on the street — and declared their love for you.”

Bush Hager continued, “We called you the enforcer. It was because you were a force and you wrote the rules. Your rules were simple: treat everyone equally, don’t look down on anyone, use your voices for good, read all the great books.”

Following her letter, Bush Hager offered an update on how her family is coping with the loss.

“It”s a mixture of waves of great gratitude of life well lived…and also for the tributes that are pouring in,” she said, adding, “and then of course pangs of sadness because she will be so dearly missed.”

Bush Hager added that her grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, “misses her of course.”

“He loved her, he loves fiercely,” she added, “but because he loves so fiercely, I think in his own way, in his old age, he’s trying to be the one to make the jokes because he doesn’t want us to worry about him.”

After Bush’s passing, Bush Hager used Instagram to remember her “Ganny,” posting a shot of herself as a child sitting with her grandparents.

“I already miss this FORCE of a woman— the “enforcer” because she was the glue that held our family together,” Bush Hager wrote. “She taught me to use my voice but also to value the opinions of others. She adored her friends and family; her loyalty was unwavering. Humor helps, she often said and it does, Gans, but I will miss your laugh terribly. She adored my Gampy, the first man she ever kissed; their love story is so engrained in the history of our family. Thinking of my Gampy tonight —no doubt missing his beloved desperately. Gans, people stopped me all the time to tell me how much they loved you. I didn’t mind sharing you with them. I love you more than tongue can tell, my Ganny.”

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