Laura was born at Midland Memorial Hospital in Midland, Texas, Mrs. Bush is the only child of Harold Bruce Welch (1912-1995) and Jenna Louise Hawkins (1919-2019). Laura and George met and married in 1977. She is the mother of Barbara and Jenna Bush, who were born in 1981. Before she became First Lady she worked as a librarian and a school teacher in Dallas and Austin, Texas.