PEOPLE SENDING THE RIGHT
MESSAGES, OF COURSE, A BIG IF.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
RICHARD ENGEL, TAKING US AROUND
THE WORLD ON VOTING AROUND THE
WORLD.
>>> HERE AT HOME, MILLIONS OF
FAMILIES ACROSS AMERICA
PREPARING TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.
FOR STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND
PARENTS, IT’S A STRESSFUL TIME.
MANY OF THEM GOING BACK TODAY
WITH SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT
SAFETY FOR THOSE WHO DO GO BACK
TO A CLASSROOM.
THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EFFICACY
AND PRACTICALITY OF VIRTUAL
CLASSES FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR
FAMILIES WHO ARE STAYING HOME.
JOINING ME NOW, JENNA BUSH
HAGER, FORMER FIRST DAUGHTER,
FIRST GRANDDAUGHTER, CO-HOST OF
THE FOURTH HOUR OF THE "TODAY"
SHOW.
YOUR NEW BOOK IS OUT TODAY.
"EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS
TIME: SEASONS OF LOVE AND LOSS."
>> THANK YOU.
>> LET’S TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT
YOU’VE LEARNED.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BOOK.
GREAT TO SEE YOU.
BUT WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED WITH
YOUR TODDLERS, 5 AND 7 AND THEN
THE BABY.
BUT FOR YOUR TWO LITTLE GIRLS,
WHAT IS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL
VIRTUALLY ALL ABOUT?
WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS THAT MILA
HAS EXPRESSED TO YOU?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, WE WERE LIKE
EVERYBODY.
OUR SCHOOLS CLOSED.
AND WE WERE TOGETHER, HOME
SCHOOLING.
REALLY, THEY WERE VIRTUALLY
LEARNING, AND WE WERE HELPING
THEM AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
AND THEY’RE LITTLE GIRLS.
SO THEY’RE SO YOUNG THAT THEY
NEEDED THE ASSISTANCE OF PARENTS
TO BE THERE TO HELP THEM EVEN
GET ON THE COMPUTER, STAY ON THE
COMPUTER.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, ALL OVER
THE COUNTRY GOING BACK TO SCHOOL
LOOKS REALLY DIFFERENT BUT I
KNOW AS A MOTHER AND AS A FORMER
TEACHER, I THINK WE’RE
APPRECIATING TEACHERS NOW MORE
THAN EVER.
>> AND FOR SO MANY OF THESE
PARENTS, YOU INCLUDE, WORKING
FROM HOME, WHILE DEALING WITH
TODDLERS WHO WERE COPING WITH
TRYING TO BE ONLINE IS A REAL
CHALLENGE.
KIDS ARE -- THEY LIKE TO RUN,
PLAY, THEY’RE INTERACTING WITH
THEIR OTHER CHILDREN.
AND NOW THEY ARE IN SOME CASES
THAT I’M HEARING ABOUT FROM
HERE, FIVE HOURS A DAY FOR SOME
OF THESE KIDS WITH VERY SHORT
BREAKS.
THAT’S A LOT.
>> YEAH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THIS
IS WHAT THE SCHOOLS HAD TO DO TO
MAKE SURE OUR KIDS GOT THE
EDUCATION THAT THEY NEEDED.
KIDS WERE ON COMPUTERS.
BUT I ALSO FEEL SO LUCKY BECAUSE
IT WAS A HUGE SOCIAL -- THERE
WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC PROBLEM
BECAUSE MY KIDS HAVE COMPUTERS.
MY KIDS HAD A PARENT WHO WAS --
COULD WORK FROM HOME BUT ALSO GO
IN AND HELP.
THERE WAS A LOT OF KIDS THAT
DIDN’T HAVE THE ACCESS TO
INTERNET OR THE TECHNOLOGY THAT
THEY NEED TO KEEP UP.
AND I THINK, IF ANYTHING, IT
SHOWS US THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR
SYSTEM NEEDS SOME SERIOUS WORK
BECAUSE WHERE WE ARE BORN
SHOULDN’T PREDICT THE LEVEL OF
EDUCATION WE RECEIVE.
AND SO THAT, YOU KNOW, I JUST
THOUGHT ABOUT THOSE KIDS WHO MAY
NOT HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY THAT
THEY NEEDED.
>> IN YOUR BOOK, YOU TALK ABOUT
ALSO LOVE AND LOSS IN THE TIME
OF COVID.
YOU’VE LOST SO MANY PEOPLE.
YOU LOST YOUR FATHER-IN-LAW THIS
SUMMER.
YOU CAN’T COMMEMORATE THAT LOSS
AND GRIEVE THE WAY YOU WOULD
WANT TO.
YOU HAD A SMALL MEMORIAL SERVICE
OF FAMILY.
BUT YOU ALSO, OF COURSE, HAD
LOST THREE GRANDPARENTS IN JUST
ONE YEAR.
AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, YOUR
FORMER -- YOUR GRANDMOTHER,
MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER AS WELL, OF
COURSE, AS THE GRANDPARENTS WE
KNEW SO WELL PUBLICLY.
PRESIDENT BUSH AND BARBARA BUSH.
SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH LOSS TO
ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOSING
FAMILY MEMBERS IN THIS TERRIBLE
TIME?
YOUR WAY OF DOING IT WAS THROUGH
LETTER WRITING, WHICH IS A REAL
BUSH FAMILY TRADITION.
>> YEAH, IT IS.
IT’S SOMETHING I DEFINITELY
INHERITED FROM THEM.
I WROTE THIS BOOK "EVERYTHING
BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME" IN THE 13
MONTHS THAT I LOST MY THREE
REMAINING GRANDPARENTS.
AND I WROTE IT, IT STARTED
REALLY AS JUST LETTERS TO THEM.
THE NIGHT MY GRANDMA BARBARA
DIED, I WAS ALONE.
MY HUSBAND WAS IN TEXAS, AND I
TURNED ON THE TV AND I WAS
LISTENING TO THOSE TALK ABOUT
HER LIFE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF WHOM
KNEW HER, LIKE YOU DID, ANDREA
AND SOME WHO DIDN’T, AND I FELT
LIKE I HAD TO WRITE HER A
LETTER.
IT WAS LIKE THIS ALMOST URGENT
CALL JUST SO THAT I COULD GET MY
THOUGHTS, MY PAIN ONTO PAPER AND
ALSO JUST HOW MUCH I LOVED HER.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, SHE
TAUGHT ME SO MUCH HOW TO USE MY
VOICE WHEN TO STAND UP FOR WHAT
I THINK IS RIGHT, AND THEN ALSO,
YOU KNOW, HOW TO GRIEVE.
HOW TO GRIEVE PUBLICLY BECAUSE
IT WAS SOMETHING I DIDN’T REALLY
EVER EXPECT.
OF COURSE, IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.
IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN WITH
MY MOM AND MY DAD.
BUT TO JUST KNOW THESE PEOPLE
FOR WHO THEY WERE TO ME AND NOT
NECESSARILY THE PUBLIC
PERCEPTION.
>> I WAS SO TOUCHED BY ALL THAT.
JUST HAVING, YOU KNOW, COVERED
YOUR FAMILY, BUT NOT KNOWING
THEM THE WAY ANYBODY CLOSE TO
THEM WOULD.
BUT I ALSO WANTED TO ASK YOU
ABOUT WHAT LESSONS BOOKS AND
LETTER WRITING CAN BE FOR THOSE
WHO ARE GRIEVING IN THE TIME OF
COVID.
>> YEAH, WELL, I MEAN, I FOUND
IT TO BE REALLY THERAPEUTIC TO
WRITE TO THOSE THAT WILL NEVER
READ THESE LETTERS.
I WROTE TO MY GRANDPARENTS
MULTIPLE TIMES IN THAT YEAR,
AND, YOU KNOW, I SO WISH THEY
WERE HERE NOW BECAUSE I JUST --
ONE OF THE THINGS THEY TAUGHT ME
IS TO BE PART OF A DISCUSSION.
WE’D SIT AROUND THAT TABLE AND
TALK AND DEBATE AND THEY LOVED
TO DEBATE.
THEY LIKE TO LISTEN TO OTHER
PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS.
AND LEARN AND GROW.
AND I ACTUALLY WRITE A STORY
ABOUT HOW MY GRANDMOTHER CHANGED
HER MIND ON CERTAIN THINGS, EVEN
IN HER 90s.
AND I JUST MISS THAT.
I MISS BEING ABLE TO SIT AND
DEBATE AND TALK AND BE LISTENED
TO AND BE HEARD.
>> YEAH, THAT ANECDOTE ABOUT HOW
SHE CHANGED HER MIND ABOUT
TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AFTER A LUNCH
CONVERSATION WAS REALLY MOVING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, JENNA BUSH