Jenna Bush Hager is recalling a powerful moment when her mom, former first lady Laura Bush, apologized to her for missteps she may have made while Jenna was growing up.
Jenna opened up about the incident on the most recent episode of the "Open Book with Jenna" podcast, during a conversation with developmental psychologist Aliza Pressman, author of “The 5 Principles of Parenting,”
Jenna recalled that her mom had been reading about the tendency for mothers to project onto their daughters .
“She read an article in the Washington Post about how, basically, women look at their daughters as mirrors, you know, and sometimes they’ll be like, ‘Oh, get the hair out of your face,’ because it’s sort of like them talking to themselves," said Jenna.
Jenna recalled that her mom gave her a copy of the article to read. "She wrote in her cursive next to the article, like, ‘I know that this has been me,’ and ‘I’m sorry,'" said Jenna.
Pressman responded by saying what Jenna's mom did was "so beautiful." She also shared her hope that more mothers and daughters might communicate with each other to "repair" past hurts.
“I really lean into that science of repair because I believe it,” said Pressman. “I think it is important for us to know the door is open forever.”
“That you should be having those conversations even as adult,” agreed Jenna.
Earlier this week, Jenna shared a photo on Instagram that showed her and her twin sister, Barbara Bush, enjoying a night out with their mom and their dad, former President George W. Bush.
Jenna also added images from her and Barbara's high school reunion in Austin, Texas. “Spring feels: 25 year HS reunion, and the parents that put up with us during that time (GOD bless them!),” Jenna captioned her post.
Jenna and Barbara announced they had plans to see their folks in Texas this week when they appeared at a March 26 tour stop in New Jersey to promote their book “I Loved You First.”
The sisters told fans that the former first family last gathered together for Laura Bush's birthday in November 2024.
"We took her to dinner, and we were in Texas on our book tour then, and when we went to dinner with her, we realized it was the first time it had just been the four of us at dinner for we couldn’t even remember,” said Barbara.
“It was just so fun to be the four of us for the first time in a long time, and we’ll do that again this weekend,” Jenna added.
