Editing Barbara Bush (section)

=== Early married years ===
The Bushes moved to Texas in 1948 when George graduated from [[Yale University|Yale]],{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=331}} as he had accepted a job in the oil industry from a family friend.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=33–34}} He did not consult Barbara before deciding on the move, and she did not raise any protest. The Bushes first lived in [[Odessa, Texas]], where Barbara sought to set up a life in which she was not subjected to her mother's criticisms or compared to her siblings.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 6}} She credited this sudden lifestyle shift for prompting her to become more mature, as the distance from their families forced Barbara and George to become self-sufficient.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=34}}{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=12}}

The following year, the Bushes moved to California, where they lived in several different towns over the course of a year for George's work.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=613}} While in California, Bush learned that her mother had died in a traffic collision. To her later regret, she decided not to attend the funeral or visit her injured father in the hospital, fearing the toll that cross-country travel would take on her pregnancy. Two months later, she gave birth to her second child, [[Pauline Robinson Bush|Robin]].{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=13}} The Bushes then returned to Texas so George could start his own oil business, and they established a home in [[Midland, Texas]].{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=331}} Bush was often left alone with the children while George was away for work, sometimes for days at a time.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=40}} She had her third child, [[Jeb Bush|Jeb]], in 1953.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=287}} While living in Texas, Bush decided to convert from [[Presbyterianism]] to her husband's denomination of [[Episcopalianism]]. However, upon taking the necessary classes, the rector congratulated her for achieving "first-class" by becoming an Episcopalian. She was so insulted by the suggestion that members of one denomination are superior to another that she left without joining, and she thereafter attended the church without anyone noticing that she was not a member.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 23}}

The family life established by the Bushes was interrupted in 1953 when Robin was diagnosed with [[leukemia]]. Against the advice of their physician, they took her to New York to get treatment.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=287}}{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=614}} Barbara forced herself to maintain her composure throughout the ordeal, and she made a point to never cry in front of her daughter. George was unable to do so and required her support. Robin died six months later, and George then had to provide support to Barbara.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 1}} She fell into a deep depression, in which she struggled to raise her two surviving children.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=287}}{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=614}} One legend held that her hair began to whiten in her grief, though she later denied this.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 7}} Her relationship with her husband and her oldest son helped her recover, as Bush felt she had to maintain herself for her family. She began to process her grief after overhearing George W. decline to play with the neighbors because his mother needed him.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 1}}{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=44}} Bush decided that she would continue having children until giving birth to another daughter.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=45}} She had three more children over the following years: [[Neil Bush|Neil]] in 1955, [[Marvin Bush|Marvin]] in 1956, and [[Dorothy Bush Koch|Dorothy]] in 1959.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=331}}

The Bushes drove across the country in 1957, and they found themselves interrupted or barred entry wherever they went, as they were accompanied by their Black housekeeper and their Black babysitter.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=46}} These incidents instilled in Bush an interest in the [[civil rights movement]].{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=21}} The family moved to [[Houston]] in 1959, where Barbara, still pregnant with Dorothy, oversaw the construction of their new home.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=614}} When her son Neil was diagnosed with [[dyslexia]] in the second grade, she developed a life-long interest in [[literacy]].{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=21}}{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 12}}