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After four years as a resident of Nobel Manor, Juanita Bush said “goodbye” to her Manor family. On Saturday morning, Mrs. Bush left Troy for her new home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

For Mrs. Bush, the leaving was bittersweet.

“I will miss my friends here at Noble Manor,” Mrs. Bush said at a party in her honor on Thursday. “I care about them and it was not in my plans to live anywhere else. But my daughters, Melody and Joy, said, ‘come live with us.’ I thought about it and decided it would be wonderful to go live with them. Twelve members of my family live in Colorado Springs and I have great-grandchildren there. And, the country out there is beautiful. I will be very happy there, just as I have been very happy here.”

Mrs. Bush is a native of Pike County. She is a graduate of Pike County High School and has the distinction as the first Miss Brundidge.

Mrs. Bush, laughingly, said she did doesn’t remember the exact date the she reigned over the City of Brundidge.

“That was a long time ago,” she said. “I think it was around 1948. I love Brundidge and Troy, all of Pike County and I will miss it. My husband, Ellis Bush, was pastor of Bush Memorial Baptist Church for many years and my son Ellis, Jr. and his wife, Becky, and my daughter Gail Bush, are here and I will miss seeing them often. But, I believe I’m making the right decision for me at this time.

“But, I’ll be back from time to time. I love my cabin out in the country. I enjoy the outdoors and of course, I’ll miss all my friends here at Nobel Manor. This is a wonderful place and it has filled my last four years with the happiness that comes with friendship. Now, I’m excited and happy to have the opportunity be with my two daughters and their families in Colorado.

Mrs. Bush will live close to both her daughters and all family members live in the Colorado Springs area.

Mrs. Bush and her son planned to leave on Saturday for Colorado. The truck was already packed with everything she needs to start a new and exciting chapter in life. She, laughingly, said she will purchase snow boots out there.

“It will be cold and I’ll have to get used to that,” she said. “But I love the outdoors and it’s beautiful out there and I will enjoy all the beautiful scenery and just being with family.”

Leaving Nobel Manor probably will not be done without a few tears shed, hers and theirs.

“These are my sweet, sweet friends and I will miss them,” Mrs. Bush said.

But not for long if her friend Emma Alexander has a say about it.

“Juanita might look up one day and see me coming,” she said, with a smile.

Mrs. Bush said she would welcome her with open arms.