On the Nov. 20 episode of TODAY, Jenna Bush interviewed her grandmother Barbara Bush about Barbara’s daughter Robin Bush, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 3 in 1953.

Jenna asked her grandmother how she could tell that Robin was getting sick. Barbara recalled, “She was lifeless. She had a few blood tests, and the doctor called and said she had leukemia. The doctor said she is going to die. Take her home, love her, and she will die in 2 weeks.”

Barbara said that they took her all over the country for chemo, but seven months later, when she was almost four, she died.

“I was holding her hair, her little head, and I saw her spirit go,” Barbara says.

Barbara and her husband George Bush decided to donate Robin’s body for research. She recalls it being an easy decision and said that she felt good “knowing something good was coming out of a precious life.” However, her friends criticized the decision as it was a very forward-thinking decision in the 50′s.

Robin has never been forgotten as Barbara thinks of her often.

“Maybe more recently the last three or four years than before,” she says. “We are getting older, and Robin to me is like a joy, an angel — not a sadness or sorrow.”

What do you think of Barbara’s recollection on the TODAY show, HollyMoms?

– Julianna Spence

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