HOUSTON - The Office of President George H.W. Bush released a picture Monday showing the president’s final pair of socks.
“The 41st President will be carried to his final rest wearing socks that pay tribute to his lifetime of service, starting as an 18-year-old naval aviator in war. That legacy is now being carried, in part, by the brave, selfless men and women aboard @CVN77_GHWB,” Jim McGrath wrote in a tweet.
The president was known for his love of colorful socks. That’s how his friendship began with John Cronin, a young man from New York with Down syndrome.
Cronin and his dad, Mark, own a sock company called John’s Crazy Socks. President Bush and Cronin exchanged letters and socks over the last year and a half. The president even requested a special pair of socks for his wife Barbara’s funeral.
“Then this Fourth of July, John designed a new sock, a Fourth of July fireworks sock. He sent those to the President,” said Mark Cronin, John’s father.
That was their final letter.
The two never met in person, but President Bush’s impact is profound.
“John would not have had the education he had and the opportunities he’s had without President Bush and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Cronin said. “For him to reach out and touch our son, to let my son know he mattered and that he could stand with all other entrepreneurs, no matter that he had Down Syndrome, that was very special to us.”
John’s Crazy Socks will be releasing a pair of socks in President Bush’s honor Wednesday. It will be a charity sock with proceeds going to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.