Former President George H.W. Bush lost composure and cried when he recited an old love letter to wife Barbara during an interview with granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager on Monday, reports MSNBC.
“As children, my sister and I were delighted to find boxes of love letters in both sets of my grandparents’ houses,” Bush Hager said, adding that her grandparents George H.W. and Barbara have been writing each other love letters for years.
During the interview, George H.W. choked up as he read a particular letter from 1994, which was after almost 50 years of marriage.
“Will you marry me? Whoops. I forgot you did that 49 years ago today,” George H.W. said. “I was very happy on that day in 1945, but I’m even happier today. You give me joy that few men know. I’ve climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara’s husband,” Bush said, his voice cracking. “Mom used to tell me, ‘Now George, don’t walk ahead.'”
“You never listened to your mother,” Barbara said.
“Little did I know I was only trying to keep up with Barbara Pierce from Onondaga Street in Rye, New York. I love you,” George H.W. said.
“Why are we such criers?” Hager Bush asked.
“You know what, you could be Speaker of the House,” Barbara said, looking at George H.W., seeming to reference House Speaker John Boehner.
[WATCH: George H.W. Bush read aloud an old love letter to wife Barbara]