On April 17, 2018 Barbara Bush passed from this earth at the age of 92 after a profound life of service. Since then the tributes and stories have been pouring forth in a manner unseen in recent memorials for U.S. Presidential first ladies. The city of Houston, and presumably across the nation, was filled with women wearing the jewelry accessory Barbara Bush became synonymous, pearls.
I would ask the mourners why the pearls? The answer was always instantaneous, the pearls are a tribute to Barbara, “Barb”, “the enforcer”, and so on. In the brief time since Barbara’s passing much has been discussed about what she meant to people and how her legacy in history is juxtaposed to where we are now. Pearls have been worn publicly by many first ladies dating back to Martha Washington. Barbara’s pearls signify the grace, civility, honesty, humility, decency and elegance she portrayed physically as First Lady and an American lady. It is well noted her pearls were often fake but the message she sent was not.
The pearl is rare in that fewer than 1 in 10,000 mollusks can create them. Even more rare are the pearl gems we come to recognize as an adornment at galas, proms, and debutante events. It is important to remember the beginning of the formation of a pearl is a response to a significant irritant to which the mollusk responds with a purpose of defense. An irritant within the folds of the mollusk is repeatedly addressed with a covering of calcium carbonate and proteins called conchiolin. The pearl manufacturing process is quite complex, but the end beautiful result is initiated by an irritation to which the mollusk responds.
The reflections for Barbara Pierce Bush reminded us that we are not only remembered by our achievements. While Barbara Bush was remembered for important contributions to literacy and AIDS/HIV education, she was most remembered for the grace and dignity with which she achieved her successes and influences of action. When her irritant was the uneducated and irrational attitudes surrounding the AIDS/HIV epidemic she spoke out about the compassion we should provide and not proliferate fear or exclusion. In this regard, she not only spoke to overcome the unwarranted phobias surrounding the “AIDS epidemic” but publicly went to AIDS care facilities and interacted and hugged both the victims and their caretakers. This demonstration of empathy and grace was photographed and shared worldwide as a message to all who lived in fear and miseducation about the disease.
Another important initiative for first lady Barbara Bush while in office was literacy. Barbara Bush was recognized by President Trump for her dedication to literacy by saying “Amongst her greatest achievements was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that requires nurturing and protection.” She founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. This funny video epitomizes her very recent dedication and spirit to her literacy cause: Barbara Bush Mascot for literacy.
The beginning of a pearl is a significant irritant and the end result is how the host responds. We don’t often think of pearl as a color and we think of it even less as a value. This is a request for us as a society to remember the color and value of pearl and remember pearl as an example of service, grace and excellence. Barbara Bush Pearl will hopefully be the next Sherwin-Williams addition but more importantly be the next value we add personally to our own palette of experience.