Barbara Bush regales guests at DBU awards dinner
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___DALLAS--Former First Lady Barbara Bush offered words of wit and wisdom as the keynote speaker for Dallas Baptist University's Russell Perry Free Enterprise Award Dinner Nov. 19.
___Bush was on hand to help the university honor Mary C. Crowley. The award for the late benefactress was received by her children, Don Carter and Ruth Shanahan.
___Bush kept her speech lighthearted and the audience laughing.
___She said she asked her son, President George W. Bush, what she could do to help the country and show her patriotism.
___"He said, 'Mom, i
| |
BARBARA BUSH visits with Don Carter, son of Mary Crowley, at the Dallas Baptist University dinner where Crowley was honored posthumously.
|
f you really want to help, go out and buy, buy, buy,'" she quipped. "Funny, the other George Bush in my life didn't see it the same way. He said, 'If you want to be patriotic, let's hold hands and go out on the lawn and sing 'God Bless America.'"
___She also offered many tips for life in these hard times, such as not taking yourself too seriously.
___A woman at another speaking engagement had related that her young granddaughter had heard Mrs. Bush speak. She told her grandmother she had seen the president's mother. "I saw George Washington's mother," the little girl said.
___As the crowd guffawed at her story, Bush responded, "Easy for you to laugh, I'm George Washington's mother."
___She also offered encouragement to all those parents of Little Leaguers who can't catch, hit or throw.
___"Don't give up. Someday you might watch your son walk out to the pitcher's mound in the World Series and throw a perfect strike," she said.
___Other tips included not lending your car to anyone you gave birth to or their offspring, not criticizing your grandchildren's clothes and that it is impossible to hide broccoli in a glass of milk.
___She also was more serious in her instructions. She echoed her son's comments as she urged everyone to be an active part of their communities, be good neighbors and to take time for family.
___"Children must come first," she said. "The home is their first school, and their parents are their first teachers."
___Character and tolerance should be chief among those things taught by parents, she said. "We can't let our children become prejudiced against a certain race or religion. That will only make things worse."
___A longtime proponent of literacy, Bush also urged parents and grandparents to read to children.
___"If more people could read, write and comprehend, we could solve many of our social problems," she asserted.
___At the conclusion of her speech, Dinner Chairman Scott Robinson said, "It makes me glad that she's the mother of our president, because we all know that sons listen to their mothers."
___In other testimony given at the banquet, Don Carter said he was one son who listened to his mother.
___"We were a team," he explained. "It was her job to give everything away, and it was my responsibility to have it there to give."
___Crowley founded Home Interiors and Gifts, a direct-sales company for home decorating accessories, with her son in 1957. A single mother, she overcame many obstacles to become a leading Dallas businesswoman before her death in 1986. She spent much of her time encouraging many women and young adults to strive for all life had for them.
___"She spent her life encouraging women to become somebody, because God doesn't spend his time making nobodies," said Rena Pederson, editorial page editor for the Dallas Morning News. Pederson introduced a video that allowed many of Crowley's family and friends to give an insight into her giving nature.
___Joey Carter, Crowley's grandson and current CEO and chairman of Home Interiors, recalled his grandmother telling him that Christianity is not a certain way of doing things but a certain way of doing all things all the time.
___Another family member recounted that Crowley was fond of encouraging DBU students by telling them, "I've made an investment in you, and I don't make bad investments."
___One of the scenes shown in the video was of Crowley on a stage leading praises to God a few weeks before her death.
___"She could rally her strength like nobody else in this world," her son said. "Her great strength came from her friend, Jesus Christ."
___Crowley always attributed her great success to her close relationship with Christ, and she was a generous philanthropist. For many years she wore a pair of silver shovels around her neck, a large one and a small one. She used those shovels to illustrate her belief that people cannot outgive God and often reminded people, "His shovel is bigger than mine."
___Crowley supported DBU in many ways, serving on its board of trustees from 1969 until 1978 and providing critical financial assistance during years of difficulty.
___Held at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, the dinner was the 14th annual recognition of outstanding Christian entrepreneurs, business people and community leaders. Proceeds from the event provide scholarship funds for DBU students.___
___
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|