Bush Honors Wife With Socks Gifted By LI Man With Special Needs

When former First Lady Barbara Bush passed away, her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, decided to wear a distinctive pair of socks that were gifted to him by a 22-year-old Huntington man with Down syndrome named John Cronin.

John and his father run a business called John’s Crazy Socks where they donate 5 percent of their earnings to the Special Olympics.

John first sent the former president a box of his socks last year after seeing fellow former President Bill Clinton gift Bush a pair of colorful socks, according to John’s Crazy Socks’ website. In March, Bush’s office asked for John to send over more socks. He sent over the Down Syndrome Super Hero socks he designed himself. Soon afterwards, John received a package in the mail, which included a letter from Bush and a pair of socks. Bush showed off a pair of John's socks on Twitter on Wold Down Syndrome Day.

When Barbara Bush died, John wanted to do something nice for his friend so he sent over a box filled with book-themed socks.

“I knew he would be sad, so I sent him a card telling him I hoped he felt better and how great a woman Mrs. Bush was,” John said on his website.

On Saturday, the day of Barbara Bush's funeral, her husband was wearing a pair of John's socks, bringing the young man to tears. Bush wore the socks to honor his late wife's commitment to family literacy. She raised over $110 million for the cause over a 30-year span, a Bush spokesperson said.

Those socks have since been renamed the Library Socks for Literacy. For every pair of these socks purchased, John’s Crazy Socks will donate $2 to the Barbara Bush Literacy Fund. The socks are currently sold out.

Related:

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• John’s Crazy Socks.com Releases Down Syndrome Awareness Socks
• John’s Crazy Socks To Donate $1 From Sale of Every Pair of Autism Awareness Socks

Image 1 of John and his father via Patch user John's Crazy Socks

Image 2: Former president George H.W. Bush leaves the funeral service of former first lady Barbara Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church on April 21, 2018 in Houston, Texas. Bush, wife of former president George H. W. Bush and mother of former president George W. Bush, died at her home in Houston on April 17 at the age of 92. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)