From one former president to another, George W. Bush told George H.W. Bush, 94, he had been "a wonderful father," leading to the 41st president of the United States to utter in his last words, "I love you, too," according to The New York Times.
The exchange came via speakerphone at the end of a painful final week in which George H.W. Bush declined making a final trip to the hospital and told those around him he was ready to be with his late wife of 73 years Barbara Bush and their late daughter Robin, who died of leukemia as a child.
"There was no question he knew where he was going and who he was going to be with," Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson Jr. said. "He was looking forward to being with Barbara and Robin again."
Barbara died April 17 and George H.W. Bush had been in and out of hospitals since, battling Parkinson's disease and congestive heart failure, according to reports.
George H.W. Bush was at his Houston home, surrounded by son Neil Bush and wife, his grandson Pierce Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker.
"I can't even hardly talk about it without welling up," Baker told the Times. "It was as gentle a passing as I think you could ever expect anyone to have. And he was ready.
". . . This is the most competitive man I ever knew in my entire life. He demonstrated that right up until the very end. He competed with death — although he did say it's time to go. But he kept fighting, he kept coming back."
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