Barbara Bush became a mother last year when she and husband Craig Coyne welcomed their daughter, Cora Georgia, to the world in September.
But she considered starting a family before Coyne even came into her life.
Bush joined her sister, Jenna Bush Hager, on TODAY Tuesday and told her twin how their late grandmother — the former first lady who also served as Bush’s namesake — encouraged her to do what was right for herself, with or without a man around.
"I knew I wanted kids," Bush recalled. "I felt like I had my whole life to fall in love if I wanted to. But right before Ganny passed away, we were in Houston visiting Ganny and Gampy. I’d been thinking of having a kid by myself, and I was sitting on the couch with Ganny, who was 92, and she looked at me and she said, ‘You know, you could just have a kid on your own if you want to. You should have a baby, if you want.'"
It felt like permission.”
Bush noted that she was shocked by her grandmother's suggestion.
"I said, ‘Well, would you support that?’" And she remembered the matriarch replying, "‘Absolutely I would support that.’"
It was a simple exchange, but one that Bush said "felt like a gift" from her grandmother.
"It felt like permission," she added.
And it also felt refreshing, because up until that point, Bush found herself hounded by questions about settling down and getting married from others around her.
"People, I’m sure many women experience this, always asked me when I was going to get married," she told her sister. "They never said, ‘What are you doing to address global health issues?’ Or, ‘How are you spending your days? What’s your purpose?’ They’d say, ‘Why aren’t you married yet?’"
Related story: Barbara Bush reveals her dad’s cute nickname for his namesake granddaughter
With an “incredibly full” life, Bush said she was in no hurry to wed. That was until she met her match, Craig Coyne, in 2017 — and married him the following year.
And despite getting the go-ahead from her Ganny, Bush waited for motherhood until after marriage.
As for little Cora's father, Bush dubbed Coyne "the best dad."
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