Bush, my grandmother and me

A lovely yarn by Gene Gibbons [Bush, broccoli and me]. My less grand recollection of George H W Bush relates to a pre-Christmas reception that he and Barbara Bush hosted while he was vice president under Ronald Reagan. After my wife, Laure, and I audaciously parked our tiny Honda just outside the vice president's mansion, we were greeted at the entrance by our two hosts. "How is your grandmother Mary Beaty doing, Nelson?" he asked as he shook my hand. I was taken aback and deeply impressed. He had taken the time and trouble to study up on such a trivial matter so that at an event with 600-odd DC hacks he could make a cub reporter feel grand by recognising, effortlessly, my connection to a woman who was a friend of his family's. As we were leaving and shaking hands again, Bush said to me, "Now that you know where we live, be sure to stop by sometime." Corny, for sure. But so like GHWB. RIP. ■