The death of former First Lady Barbara Bush spread like wildfire, and understandably so. To many people, she was the ideal First Lady. She was classy, yet funny, and was a shining light during her time in the White House. For one Texas athlete, she was more than just the First Lady, she was also his friend and he took to social media to share his fond memories of her.

Texans Star JJ Watt made a touching post to Twitter that has been liked over 100,000 times and shared over 15,000 times. The Tweet said “Rest in Peace Mrs. Barbara Bush. You were a beautiful light in this world and I am forever thankful for your friendship.”

The two celebrities worked together in a campaign to “tackle literacy” and in one popular photo of the two, Mrs. Bush appears in football pads and eye black.

Watt says he was amazed that there he was with the First Lady and she was dressed like him and cracking jokes in between photos. He couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to have such an opportunity.

He says he has been over to her house and had cookies with her and that she is just an amazing person. He says she was fun to hang around with and sweet as can be and he feels very fortunate to have had the opportunity to know her.