Jenna Bush Hager spoke out this week to reveal the best advice that she ever received from her late grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush.
During this time of political unrest and COVID-19, Hager said that it’s the small acts of kindness that really matter to people.
“My grandpa, who lived until he was 94, I’ll never forget. Well, first of all, he had this little list of rules that he lived by and they’re all really good ones, like, ‘Don’t talk all the time. Listen to your mentors and friends and learn from them,’” she told her “Today” cohost Hoda Kotb.
Hager went on to share with the TODAY audience what his full list of rules was.
“Don’t get down when your life takes a bad turn; don’t blame others for your setbacks; when things go well, always give credit to others; don’t talk all the time; listen to your friends and mentors and learn from them; don’t brag about yourself,” she said.
“Give someone a hand, nobody likes an overbearing big shot. As you succeed, be kind to people. Don’t be afraid to shed a tear when your heart is broken or because a friend is hurting.”
“I actually have them memorized, which is kind of weird,” Hager added.
She then recalled that one night before Bush died in 2018, he told her, “Don’t forget to enjoy the game.”
“It was the last summer of his life, and he looked at me and he couldn’t hear very well and so he wasn’t as much part of the conversation and he loved conversations,” Hager explained.
“He loved conversations where there were agreements, where there were disagreements, with friends, with political ‘enemies’ who became friends and he leaned over to me and he could barely speak and he said, ‘Don’t forget to enjoy the game.’”
She said that this “broke my heart into a thousand pieces because what he meant is life is meant to be enjoyed, celebrate it.”
Hager concluded by telling viewers to ask their grandparents for advice before they pass on. Kotb was impressed by what her cohost had to say, adding, “The fact that you memorized it just touched me.”
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