Bushes celebrate quiet anniversary

HOUSTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, home after a hospital stay, quietly celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary, a spokesman said.

The couple were married Jan. 6, 1945, just two weeks after George returned home from combat during World War II. Bush, who would go on to become the nation's 41st president, is father of the nation's 43rd president, George W. Bush.

The elder Bushes are the nation's longest-married former president and first lady, the Houston Chronicle reported. They have been married one year longer than Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.

Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath said the Bushes received no special guests and "stayed close to the house" in Houston. Barbara Bush, 88, is "still bouncing back from her visit to the hospital," McGrath added.