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From 1988 to 1992, Paula Trivette of Greensboro served as a White House nurse to President George H.W. Bush, the nation's 41st president.

Trivette probably never imagined that in 2009 she and her husband, Bill, would be among those chosen among only 50 guests to attend the commissioning of the USS George Herbert Walker Bush, an aircraft carroer.

Trivette was contacted by Bush's office and told Bush wanted to invite her and her husband to attend the ribbon cutting of the carrier, take a private tour and have lunch on board.

Remembering her years as a nurse to Bush, she said, "He loved and still loves his nurses. I believe that the White House Medical Unit was a sanctuary for Bush while he was in office.

"It was a place he could come where no one was going to ask anything of him, no one was going to ask his opinion or ask a favor of him. It was a place he could come and relax, and get away from the pressures of his office."

Trivette recalls that Bush always treated the White House Medical Unit like family and that her four years serving as a nurse for Bush offered her a special window to history.

Earlier, she served for 2 ½ years as nurse to President Ronald Reagan. She considered herself blessed to be given the opportunity to continue in service to her country and another president.

As a White House nurse, Trivette's responsibility was to provide a medical contingency plan for the president whenever he left the compound of the White House in the event of a medical emergency. This meant traveling to any city in the United States, as well as foreign travel to provide the medical plans necessary.

Trivette said Bush had a habit of scanning the crowd whenever he exited his limo, looking for his nurse.

"I think that gave him a feeling of security and it also gave me a feeling of being special, too," Trivette said. "A gift he generously gave to me and others was to make us feel we really mattered."

After Trivette left the White House, Bush probably knew about her military family.

Trivette, husband Bill, sons Evan and Eric and daughter-in-law Alicemary all served or are now serving in military service.

Paula Trivette awarded the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing Scholarship after high school graduation.

While serving in San Antonio at Brook Army Medical Center, she met Bill Trivette. They have been married for 32 years.

Bill Trivette graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1970 and served five years at Fort Bragg and in Korea.

He completed law school on an Army program in 1978 and was commissioned in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG), where he served until 1993 when he retired after 23 years of military service. He is now an assistant federal public defender in Greensboro.

Their son Evan graduated from West Point in 2002 and served in the infantry with the 82nd Airborne Division, including a deployment to Iraq. He applied for medical school through the army and is currently completing his fourth year of medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He will graduate in May and be commissioned as a captain in the Army Medical Corps. Evan Trivette, wife Lindsay and their newborn baby, Isabella, will then move to El Paso, Texas.

Son Eric is a first lieutenant in Army Aviation. He graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., on an ROTC scholarship. He was selected for Apache (attack helicopter) duty.

Eric Trivette met his wife, Alicemary, during flight school. She was training to fly the Black Hawk helicopter. They both deployed to Iraq in October 2008. Eric is now in Mosul and Alicemary, also a first lieutenant, is 100 miles away in Tikrit.

Paula Trivette said, "We are intensely proud of our military family. While we worry about Eric and Alice in Iraq, we do what we did when Evan was there; we put it in the Lord's hands.

"Not a day goes by that we don't pray for them as well as for all of our servicemen and women in harms way."

Trivette now works as a flexible resource nurse at Moses Cone Hospital, working mainly in intensive care and emergency departments.

"This is the perfect job for me," Trivette said, "as I am able to take care of very sick patients in multiple settings and still have a life of my own."

In addition to her nursing career, Trivette has made significant contributions in helping others. In October 2007, she walked 60 miles during the Breast Cancer 3 Day walk in Atlanta to give support in wiping out breast cancer. Two of her sisters are breast cancer survivors. As a team of eight sisters and four nieces, they raised more than $35,000 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. In November 2007, Trivette donated 20 million stem cells to a total stranger to help save his life.

"My mother's death on Dec. 22, 2008, was a poignant reminder of the circle of life," she said. "Her life ended just days after our first grandchild, Isabella's, life began.

"I often ask myself why am I on this earth," she said, "and what is my next mission in life?"

It is clear that part of Paula Trivette's mission in life has been and continues to be blessing others as a nurse and a caring human being who shows the love of God to the sick and dying. She distinguished herself as a nurse who cared for presidents of the United States.

Contact Peggy Longmire at rlongmire@triad.rr.com or 288-9040.