Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday in Houston, always seemed a little old-fashioned to me. But it wasn’t until a few days ago, when news broke that the former first lady was dying, at age 92, that she seemed old.
When I was a boy and Bush was first lady, she reminded me of a lot of the older women I knew in my church: They all had white hair, classic jewelry and matronly dresses. From a distance, they seemed prim and proper and, well, old-fashioned. But once you got to know them, you realized they were caring and funny.