Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss

by Jenna Bush Hager

Overview

Jenna Bush Hager, the former first daughter and granddaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and coanchor of the Today show, shares moving, funny stories about her beloved grandparents and the wisdom they passed on that has shaped her life.

To the world, George and Barbara Bush were America’s powerful president and influ­ential first lady. To Jenna Bush Hager, they were her beloved Gampy and Ganny, who taught her about respect, humility, kindness, and living a life of passion and meaning—timeless lessons that continue to guide her.

In Midland, Texas, Jenna’s maternal grandparents, Harold and Jenna Welch—Pa and Grammee—a home builder and homemaker, lived a quieter life outside the national spotlight. Yet their influence was no less indelible to their granddaughter. Throughout Jenna’s childhood and adolescence, the Welches taught her the name of every star in the sky, the way a dove uses her voice—teaching her to appreciate the beauty in the smallest things.

Now the mother of three young children, Jenna pays homage to her grandparents in this collection of heartwarming, intimate personal essays. Filled with love, laughter, and unforgettable stories, Everything Beautiful in Its Time captures the joyous and bittersweet nature of life itself. Jenna reflects on the single year in which she and her family lost Barbara and George H. W. Bush, and Jenna Welch. With the light, self-deprecating charm of the bestselling Sisters First—cowritten with her twin sister, Barbara—Jenna reveals how they navigated this difficult period with grace, faith, and nostalgic humor, uplifted by their grandparents’ sage advice and incomparable spirits.

In this moving book, Jenna remembers the past, cherishes the present, and prepares for the future—providing a wealth of anecdotes and lessons for her own children and all of us. Poignant and humorous, intimate and sincere, Everything Beautiful in Its Time is a warm and wonderful celebration of the enduring power of family and an exploration of the things that truly matter most.

“As long as I’m alive, my grandparents will not be forgotten. . . . I hear their voices in the letters they sent me and in my memories. They offer comfort, support, and guidance, and I will listen to them always.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062960658
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	906,094
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

Jenna Bush Hager is the cohost of the fourth hour of the Today show with Hoda Kotb and the founder of the Today book club, Read with Jenna. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Everything Beautiful in Its Time and coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestselling Ana’s Story and two children’s books—Our Great Big Backyard and Read All About It—which she wrote with her mother, Laura, as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers Sisters First, written with her sister, Barbara, in both adult and children’s editions. She lives with her husband and three children in New York City.

Table of Contents

My Four Grandparents 1

Hiding from My Favorite People on Earth 5

Sister Love and Sister Strife 11

A Letter from Ganny on Barbara's and My Birthday 25

Do Not Speak to Me of "Balance" 27

The Wrong Movie 33

Out There on the Water 39

Henry's Letter to Gampy 47

The Opposite of Fear Is Love 51

Times I Have Cried (a Partial List) 63

Gentle Protection 67

A Letter from Jenna and Barbara to Sasha and Malta 77

"To Thine Own Self Be True" 83

Comfort Care 91

Mirror, Mirror 103

The Greatest Gift 111

"I Know You Miss Them, Too" 117

Summer Rain 125

"Poor Henry" 131

My Girls as Sisters 137

The Stone Ring 143

Dreams of My Mother 149

"Every Woman Gets Her Baby in Her Time" 157

"I Learned a Lot from Our Lunch" 165

Harold 181

April Showers Bring May Fog 189

Saying Goodbye to Grammee Jenna 197

Happy Birthday, Ganny 209

Father's Day in Maine 213

Walking to the Gate 221

Acknowledgments 227

Editorial Reviews

07/27/2020

In this charming memoir, Bush Hager (Sisters First), cohost of Today with Hoda & Jenna, pays tribute to her prominent family, particularly her grandparents. Bush Hager describes growing up in two presidential families: when she and her twin sister were toddlers, they “got in trouble” when Secret Service agents rescued them from a 10-foot seawall after they’d escaped from their cribs while visiting the Maine home of their grandfather, “Gampy”—President George H.W. Bush. Bush Hager’s memoir is rife with charming anecdotes: dancing in her prom dress with her father (President George W. Bush) after her date jilted her, discussing books and cats with her “southern lady” mother Laura, and squabbling with her beloved sister Barbara (the author might punch, but her twin had “strong nails and wasn’t afraid to use them”). Bush Hager recounts the period in which she lost both Bush grandparents, as well as her namesake Jenna Welch (“She wasn’t loud and she didn’t boast, but she was proud of her life and her family”). She also paints a vivid picture of strong and devoted matriarch Barbara Bush (“More than once, I have looked at my grandmother and thought, This woman is invincible”). This endearing memoir brings readers deep into the heart of a family that many may feel they already know well. Bush’s fans will delight in these intimate, funny remembrances. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2020-07-07
The Today Show host considers with gentle affection her close relationships with her grandparents.

Over the past couple years, Hager has lost both her paternal grandmother and grandfather, Barbara Bush and former President George H.W. Bush, and her maternal grandmother, Jenna Welch. (Her maternal grandfather died many years earlier.) The author fondly reminisces about the time she spent with them in Texas and at the Bush family compound in Maine as well as the bonds her children were able to form with their great-grandparents. Along the way, Bush proffers amusing anecdotes about her experiences of life in the White House with both her grandparents and her parents, her courtship and marriage, her pregnancies, the challenges of life as a working mother, and her abiding love for her children. She includes advice from her grandfather (“Nobody likes an overbearing big shot”), letters from her grandparents, a letter she and her sister wrote to Sasha and Malia Obama, letters she wrote to her grandparents after their deaths, and “Times I Have Cried (a Partial List),” which includes “at all Kleenex commercials” and “at parent-teacher conferences, when I hear glowing reports.” Though she generally avoids discussing politics, Bush defends her father from the personal criticism she believes the press loaded on him, and she makes it clear that she's not a fan of the current administration. Those looking for surprises or revelations should look elsewhere. The curated version of Hager that emerges falls right in line with her TV persona, and those who enjoy her company on the small screen will likely appreciate it here, as well.

A carefully self-monitored peek into the private life of the Bush family.

Kirkus Reviews