Brooke Shields reached new heights of fame at a very early age, allowing her and her family to brush shoulders with some of the most influential figures of the 20th century. This included former US President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara.
At the New York Celebration of Reading, hosted by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, Shields recalled a hilarious and endearing memory she shared with the Bush duo when she was younger, about how she believed she’d flooded their home.
Brook Shields thought she’d flooded the house
While speaking with Lauren Bush, Brooke Shields shared some memories of time spent with the Bush family. In Particular, she recalled a time when she and her family joined Bush, Sr. and Barbara at their home in Kennebunkport, Maine – she thought she had flooded their house.
Shields explained that, after everyone had retired for the evening, she stayed in the kitchen and began to notice water coming in from a window. “I feverishly start closing all the windows, and I go and get towels and wrap up the whole thing,” she explained. “And now it’s a mess. And I’m thinking, ‘Whoa, I got a beer in my hand and I’m flooding the house. None of this looks good.'”
After quickly placing towels down to try and prevent the wood floors from warping from water damage, Shields went upstairs to the bedroom of the former president and First Lady, to tell them what had happened.
Barbara Bush was appreciative of Brooke Shields’ honesty
This may have been an embarrassing conversation for Brooke Shields to have had, but the George H.W. and Barbara Bush handled the situation with kindness.
Shields explained how it went down, revealing, “I’m not making eye contact because everyone’s in sleep clothes. And I’m like, ‘The windows were open and there was floods and I’m worried about the wood warping. So I cleaned it up and I just wanted to give you a heads up that that’s what’s happening. And I hope you have a really nice night. Thank you for having me.'”
Explaining what had happened caused Shields to reach a point where she had to tell herself to stop. “I was just like, ‘Shut up, Brooke.'” she explained. “And [Barbara Bush] goes, ‘Oh honey, Brooke saved the house from flooding.'”
Brooke Shields reveals the two were important in her life
As Brooke Shields recalled, following that conversation, she joined the pair as they sat down for TV dinners and watched a show on the small screen.
“I sat there for 40 minutes watching CSI on the floor, both of them sitting there, and just going, ‘I think there really is a God,'” she joked. It came to be a cherished memory, as she remembers it as “just one of the sweetest moments of my entire life.”
Barbara and Bush, Sr. came to be “very important in my youth and in my life,” the actor shared. “I don’t have any grandparents. I don’t have really many relatives except for my sisters with my dad. And so he was that symbol to me, and I looked up to [Barbara] so much.”
More from us: Leonardo DiCaprio Calls Kate Winslet ‘One of the Great Talents of My Generation’
Want to become a trivia master? Sign up for our Today In History newsletter!
Shields was able share her love for the family for a long time, as the pair lived long and happy lives. Both George H.W. and Barbara Bush died in 2018, living to the old ages of 94 and 92, respectively.