ROCKPORT — My home for 21 years before moving to Midcoast Maine in 2005 was Washington, D.C., and my most special memory of those two decades was seeing President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush in action.  No, I was not a civil service employee on Capitol Hill; rather, I was a volunteer director at a long-term care facility where the Bushes, especially Barbara, were genuine friends of the residents who lived there.

It was 1989, the year that George Herbert Walker Bush was elected president. I was working at The Washington Home and Hospice, one of the oldest nursing homes in the country, located in a tranquil residential neighborhood off of upper Wisconsin Avenue, just past the Washington Cathedral, where the president’s funeral service was recently held.

Residents and staff at The Washington Home often shared memories of Barbara visiting the facility dating back to when she was a congressional wife, when her husband was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency until 1977 and then Vice President, from 1981 through 1989, usually accompanied with their cherished four-legged family member at the time.

She also helped with the founding of the hospice program at the facility and escorted Princess Diana for a special tour and visit with the residents of the long-term care facility and hospice patients when she came to the U.S. in 1985 for her famous first visit.

This all occurred before my tenure at the facility, but in February 1989, First Lady Barbara Bush came back to the home on Valentine’s Day for a special gathering with the residents.

I remember feeling that her warmth, humor and compassionate nature were even more potent in person.

Prior to her arrival, the residents and staff experienced the invasion of the Secret Service, with their dark plain suits and the curly ear wires running down their shirts to a hidden microphone, along with the numerous black SUVs lining the driveway of the front entrance.

And then Mrs. Bush arrived for her visit. It felt like your great aunt had come over to the house for a cup of chamomile tea while wearing her staple wardrobe item, the triple strand pearl necklace.

About 75 residents who were able to attend were personally greeted with delicate handshakes and hugs by the First Lady, some being those whom she remembered from her previous visits.

It was the following December that many of us saw Mrs. Bush again. It was The Washington Home’s annual trip to the White House to see the special and vibrant holiday decorations. It was a day when the White House staff laid down the extra ramps to accommodate people in wheelchairs and needing special assistance.

Barbara knew we were coming that afternoon.

We were in the entrance room and all of a sudden she was sitting on the side stairwell, dressed in a comfy sweat suit, surrounded by a few of her young grandchildren and Millie, the springer spaniel, and her puppies that were born in March. She greeted us warmly and many of the residents felt they had been elevated to a V.I.P. status with Mrs. Bush sharing other members of her family as well.

But to back track to the previous month, on Nov. 21, 1989, Mrs. Bush returned to The Home for the dedication of the new building, which had been built on the surrounding property in back of the current facility. This time her escort was President Bush.

The secret service were back, the security drill was repeated, but this time it felt a bit more tense due to the impending arrival of the president.

Again, the residents were gathered in the community room to visit with the Bushes before they went over to the new facility for a tour and dedication program where they both spoke, with donors and other invited community guests.

It was the monthly celebration for the residents’ birthday and for this occasion, I recall a very feisty resident, over 90 years old, who was asked to play “Happy Birthday” for the group, hopefully to be perfectly timed as the Bushes entered the room.

Well, it did not work out that way. The President and First Lady arrived late and a lot of folks got tired of hearing the song played over and over again.

Even though the President of the United States was shaking hands and greeting the residents, it was Barbara who was the distinct “Belle of the Ball.” I still remember the president saying with a grin and chuckle, during his remarks at the podium during the dedication ceremony, that the residents were more interested in seeing Barbara again.

It was like President Kennedy’s statement in 1961 during his official visit to France, “I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.”

There were many more anecdotes of Mrs. Bush’s personal relationship with The Washington Home, including handwritten correspondence to some of the residents she kept in contact with, but the memories I shared were the ones I was very privileged to experience.

Her visits were non-political, instead they were full of love and support, and even inspirational for the residents and the staff, family members and volunteers who worked as a team, all challenged to enhance the quality of life for this elderly population.

I will always have fond memories of the Bushes sharing a part of their lives with the elderly residents and to coin a phrase from the Bob Hope’s famous song, “Thanks for the Memory.”

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com