We’re hearing a lot these days about how COVID-19 social-distancing rules are affecting extended families --- how younger and older generations are missing out on those formative relationships that should last a lifetime. More tragically, we’re also hearing about families losing elderly relatives without being able to say their goodbyes in person.

Against a global backdrop of pandemic disruption and increasing fear for our social and economic futures, the release of bestselling author and popular “Today” co-host Jenna Bush Hager’s memoir, EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME, might seem ill-timed. So much of it celebrates the enduring closeness of intergenerational family ties that many of us are not experiencing.

But there’s nothing glib, entitled or self-absorbed about this former first daughter’s reminiscences of life with her world-famous paternal grandparents, the late president George H. W. Bush and wife Barbara, or her less famous but equally loved maternal grandparents, Harold and Jenna Welch.

"Put the COVID-19 pandemic aside for an evening or two. Get comfy and read what Jenna Bush Hager has to say; she’s good company in these socially distanced times."

Clustered around tender remembrances of all three living grandparents, who passed away within the last couple of years (Harold Welch died much earlier), are stories of sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters and grandchildren. Through Jenna’s mindful and compassionate writing, they share connections, challenges, joys and sorrows far beyond the limelight of being identified as part of an iconic American “First Family.”

Reading this book is a lot like attending a wedding, funeral, Christmas party or Thanksgiving celebration among a family you don’t know well --- until someone pulls out a thick photo album and begins describing the events and characters within its pages. Stories are told, memories shared, and those “in the know” take pleasure in drawing you inside their unique and colorful world.

The way Jenna describes growing up in and out of the White House with her fraternal twin sister Barbara, how they found their individual identities and roles as adults, and how they fell in love and started families of their own, feels like an old-fashioned kitchen-table chat over coffee --- moments that can be surprisingly deep and memorable.

This is not your usual chronological memoir. Instead, it moves through a series of heartfelt yet realistic personal essays about those pivotal moments that were colored and informed by grandparents who were far more introspective and humbly wise than any professional media author could reveal.

In many ways, Jenna is not merely paying homage to grandparents who gave unstintingly of themselves to family and country but celebrating ancestors who subtly and supportively infused her with an honest desire to carry on their values.

Above all, while easy to read, EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME is also about the power of enduring gratitude for everything that makes families special beyond their tragedies and imperfections. And a “First Family” is no exception.

Put the COVID-19 pandemic aside for an evening or two. Get comfy and read what Jenna Bush Hager has to say; she’s good company in these socially distanced times.