PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Former first lady Barbara Bush had a true talent for inspiring the people she met including the many patients she met while visiting the hospital named after her. As a way to honor Mrs. Bush, past and present patients united Wednesday for a special tribute.
For patients, it was a moment to pause from the scans, treatments, and tests and honor a woman who helped the patients of the Children’s Hospital in Portland.
“I’m sad that she passed away,” says 13 year-old Gabe Biasuz whohas Cystic Fibrosis. He has stayed at the hospital more than a dozen times.
“I wish I could meet her.”
Biasuz never met the former First Lady, who was known to visit the hospital often, but her optimistic energy was evident in the everyday work of the hospital that bears her name.
“Say you’re not having a good day," he explains, "like people here will like cheer you up like super-fast.”
“Her humor her resiliency, her being the matriarch of the family," describes Jere Michelson, Chairman, Maine Medical Center. "Through personal interaction I just smile because I got to see a lot of it first hand.”
Jere Michelson isays Mrs. Bush’s life’s work and legacy will live on at the hospital, even with a visual reminder of one of her past visits. If you look close enough at a tile display inside, you’ll find the one she made, pearls and all.
On Wednesday patients, doctors and nurses created a different a display: a banner adorned with words of gratitude for a woman who inspired so many, and in addition, a guest book that's quickly filling with messages of those who are thankful for a safe and loving place to heal.
The Children’s Hospital in Portland was named for the former first lady 23 years ago.