Thousands Of People Pay Final Respects To Barbara Bush
HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM) - A steady stream of people filled shuttle buses to say a final farewell to former First Lady Barbara Bush.
As of 9:30 Friday night, former President George Bush's office said more than five thousand people went to St. Martin's Episcopal Church to walk past her casket.
For many people this was meaningful, but some others this became even more special, the former President and his daughter Dorothy came in to greet them.
Martha Greenwood said she was amazed. "We were just awed, felt so blessed. You don't get the opportunity to shake hands with the President."
Greenwood told me while she lives on the other side of Houston, she still considered the Bushes neighbors.
"I just shared with him my condolences and that his family has been an inspiration to me and just to say thank you very much and he did that to everybody who came through."
Like Greenwood, many others wore pearls and the color blue, two of Mrs. Bush's favorites.
But Mary Nell Browning said there were so many other reasons to pay tribute to her. "I'd just like to say thank you Mrs. Bush for being so elegant. Thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us and thank you for bringing our country together."
Browning has known the Bush family since the 1960's.
She grew up in the house right behind theirs -- and was friends with the Bushes' daughter. "Most days she would come over to my house, I'd go to hers. There was a little path between the two, so we saw each other all the time."
Most people who came here never met Barbara Bush.
That didn't matter to Rosie Vargas. "We're going to miss her. We are going to miss her."
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