Dani's story

Dani's story

Here's my story about the time I met George W. Bush (or, as I used to call him, George Bush, Jr.).

This had to be back in 1991 or 1992. I was engaged to Steve Arbanas, and I was still going to Holy Trinity. The church was working with Hearts & Hammers, and Steve and I had signed up to volunteer that weekend. We were working on a house in a neighborhood close to Dallas Love Field. I was caulking some exterior windows on the side of the house, when a small motorcade of sorts (Suburbans with blacked out windows) drove up and parked on the street in front of the house we were working on. I was engrossed in my caulking when I started noticing that people were walking over to where the Suburbans had parked. I asked the guy next to me (I think his name was Alex...I can see his face, but I can't remember his name. He went to Holy Trinity, and at the time I thought of him as one of the "adults") who was over there, and he said it was George Bush. I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes, because I knew for a fact that it was NOT President Bush meeting and greeting people. He kind of challenged me to go over and meet him, knowing full well that I thought he was talking about the current president of the United States. So, I left my post and got in the short line to meet "the President." When it was my turn, he introduced himself: "Hi there, I'm George Bush.  What's your name?" And I responded, very much the smart-ass, "Well, hi there, George Bush, my name is Christy Brinkley." He hesitated for just a beat, and then said, "We'll, hi there, Christy, nice to meet you." I kind of rolled my eyes and walked back to my post, where that guy Alex asked if I had met the guy. I rolled my eyes (again) and said yep, and I didn't know who he was, but he definitely was NOT the President. Alex (?) started laughing so hard, he could barely breathe. "Danielle," he said, "that isn't the President. That's George Bush Jr, the President's SON!"  My stomach fell down to my knees and I felt sick. "Oh, NO," I said, and without giving it much thought, I dropped my caulk gun and RAN back to where George W Bush stood. And that's when I realized the secret service guys standing around him. They saw me running towards him, and they closed ranks around him. He saw me, and told the SS guys it was fine and to kind of back off. Here's what gets me: it had been about 10 minutes since I'd first spoken to him, and in that time, he'd met probably 20 other people. When I got up to him the 2nd time, he said, "Hi Christy, what can I do for you?" The man REMEMBERED MY "NAME." I was almost in tears as I apologized to him, saying, "I am so sorry, Mr Bush, my name is not Christy Brinkley. My name is really Danielle Claus. I didn't think you were who you said you were, because I didn't know your dad had a son also named George Bush."  He was SO nice about it. He laughed and said he gets that a lot, and not to worry about it. I said that people don't believe me when I tell them my dad's name, and he asked what it was. I told him your name is Santa Claus, and he busted out laughing, saying he could see how that could be a problem. He asked how you got your name, and I told him the story. He thought it was awesome, and we just chatted for a few minutes more.  He showed me his boots that I guess were a gift from the Texas Rangers (picture attached). 

Anyway, that's how I found out that 1.) The then-President of the United States had a son also named George Bush, and 2.) He was about to begin his run for Governor of Texas. He was so kind to me, and he didn't have to be. He has a great sense of humor. Very self-deprecating, and he has a gift for putting people at ease. He absolutely loved the story of how you got your name, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he still remembers it.

Whoops, forgot one important part: for months afterwards, Alex, Steve Pollard and a few other guys called me Christy Brinkley, just to tease me. 🤣