As I watched footage of President George H.W. Bush’s funeral on television and saw Donald Trump and his wife make their belated entrance into the church pew where sat all the assembled prior presidents with their wives, I gained a new sense of the president as a person.
I have taught young children in my career and raised several children as a parent, so I am familiar with the child who feels unloved, unappreciated and unable to feel warmly accepted. Often that child will act out the role he or she feels has been thrust upon him or her. The more outrageous, annoying, disruptive the behavior is, the more justified the child comes to feel.
I suspect that Donald Trump is that type of child at his core. As he seemed to sullenly take his seat, with his hands planted on his thighs, slightly leaning forward, he looked like a child sent to the principal's office for punishment.
His facial expression said, "I don't want to be here. None of you like me. I'm only here because I have to be. I'll be so glad when it's over."
The man could use a friend, a hug, a kind word, a gentle touch just as would any unloved child. It's interesting that one of his often-used words is "sad."
Carol J. Conners, West Valley City
