George W. Bush gives his granddaughter a one-of-a-kind birthday gift

Miami Herald

15-04-2025

George W. Bush loves painting portraits of pets — especially when it's for a good cause.
On April 13, the former president's daughter, 'Today' host Jenna Bush Hager, took to her Instagram Stories to share a photo of the unique gift her father gave her eldest daughter Mila for her 12th birthday.
In the photo, Mila is holding up a colorful portrait of the family's newest cat, Maisie.
'A gift from Jefe! She loves!' Bush Hager captioned the photo, referring to her father as Jefe — the moniker her kids gave the former president.
Jefe is the masculine form of the Spanish word for 'boss.'
After sharing the gift on her Instagram Stories, Bush Hager celebrated her tween with a series of photos.
'Twelve years of our darling girl--Mila we LOVE all of who you are: all heart, spirit and humor. You burrata, cat-loving, (Grey's) Anatomy queen! We love you so!' Bush Hager wrote in the caption.
Mila's grandmother, former First Lady Laura Bush — who goes by 'Grammy' — added a comment under the photo.
'Wish we (were) with you on your birthday ! So much love,' she wrote, to which Bush Hager replied, 'love you mama.'
The birthday surprise comes just a few weeks after Bush Hager and her twin sister, Barbara Pierce Bush, spoke at the Wyckoff Family YMCA in New Jersey.
During their talk, Bush Hager said her father 'loves to paint pets' and enjoys taking requests from his grandchildren for what to paint next, according to 'Today.'
She then recalled one of those requests — when Mila asked her grandfather for a portrait of one of the family's cats named Mango.
'A painting will show up and I'm like, 'When did 'Jefe' paint Mango?'' Bush Hager joked, per 'Today.' 'And Mila's like, 'Oh, I requested that he do that for Poppy,'' referring to her little sister.
In addition to Mango and Maisie, Bush Hager is also the owner of a third cat, Hollywood, who went missing last year.
'This summer, there were some beautiful things that happened and one slightly heartbreaking thing in our family, which is that our beloved cat Hollywood Hager went missing,' Bush Hager said in October.
To help her family mourn the loss, Bush Hager adopted Maisie.
'We're going to have a new member of our household, and hopefully Holly will smell that little kitty and be like, 'Who's getting in there with my parents.' And come back,' she added in October.
Aside from Mila and the cats, Bush Hager shares two other children — Poppy Louise, 9, and Henry Harold (who goes by Hal), 5 — with her husband, Henry Chase Hager.
As for former President Bush, he has been painting since 2009 when he left the Oval Office, per 'Today.'
'After the presidency I thought, 'What am I going to do?'' Bush told KXAS in 2017.
'The painting came along and it's opened up whole new vistas for me — a whole new way of thinking, a whole new study pattern,' he told the outlet.
It's something he said he never thought he'd get into — and his two daughters agree.
'Our parents now are just living very different lives than we ever would have thought,' Barbara Bush said at the YMCA last month, per 'Today.'
'Our dad is an artist, we didn't see that coming,' she added.