At this year's Women's Philanthropy Board Spring Symposium and Luncheon, former first lady Laura Bush spoke to a crowd of fans about her past and present.
The event was held at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.
All six previous philanthropy board presidents were present at the event, including the current president, Sandy Coaker.
"The WPB is about learning to be mentors, learning to be financial decision makers and, in the end, being philanthropists and impacting the world around us," Coaker said.
Laura, a role model for women throughout the United States, joined the board and its guests for the event. Her daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, spoke at last year's event.
Laura informed the crowd of the status of her family. Her husband, former President George W. Bush, has recently taken up painting and is currently working on portraits of wounded soldiers. The former president has been working on his golf game, Laura said.
The former president recently released his book, "41: A Portrait of My Father." Laura encouraged listeners to grab a copy, jokingly stating that they were "only on a government pension."
The family cats, Bob and Bernadette are living the high life in the family's Texas home.
According to Laura, both her and her husband have been devoting much of their time to the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas.
Alongside work at the Presidential Center, the couple has been focusing on the Bush Institute, a freedom initiative that focuses on the key issues from his presidency: freedom from ignorance, freedom from disease, promoting free-enterprise and human freedom initiative
According to Laura, good news came the morning of the event when freedom was granted to two Burmese proponents of education after protesting. This issue is parallel to her work with woman of the Middle East and the freedom initiatives.
The Bush administration has recently released their book, "We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope."
Laura spoke about the experience of living in the White House as the war on terrorism waged stateside and overseas.
"When George took office, we believed that the challenges facing the country from within were going to be more urgent than those from without," Laura said. "The Cold War was over, the Berlin wall had fallen and Germany was reunited. Russia was no longer our enemy and peace was on it's way to the Balkans."
Laura had initially made her priority the literacy of America, when crisis struck the states and she began to focus on other issues, leading her to pursue the needs of Middle East women.
Although life in the White House was hectic and stressful at times, the Bush family referred to the giant mansion as home from the beginning of the Bush administration.
"I think I might have forgotten what normal is," Laura said. "When you're married to the president of the United States, you don't worry too much about him leaving his wet towels on the floor. It's different in Texas."
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