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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. OCTOBER 14. 2010
orth
Ljeorgia
imousine
Weddings,
Airport Service,
Anniversaries,
Special Occasions
Office: 770-735-2685 • Cell: 770-893-7306
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Shooting the Breeze with Shawna s Mom
WEST END GENERAL STORE
2881 Jerusalem Church Road
Jasper, GA 30143
706-337-3709
Saturday, October 30, 2010
11:00 AM-3:00 PM
Cruise-In
♦ Antique Tractors
Antique Gas Motors
on display
By Angela Reinhardt
Reba Isaac’s story is a love stoiy.
You can hardly separate her tale
with that of her husband of 55
years, Joe. Reba, mother of 29-
year Pickens County Progress
employee Shawna Isaac, weaves
a tale of true love and romance
so often pursued but so seldom
attained. Joe, who passed away
in 2006, was excommunicated
from his Lebanese family’s
Catholic Church for marrying
the once-divorced Reba, and for
decades was forbidden from tak
ing communion or entering con
fession, a devastating blow to a
man of strong faith. Now a
spunky 87, Reba stays active
with her four children, 11 grand
children and numerous great
grandchildren. Here Reba and
Shawna speak about a life where
family is strong, love is stronger,
and marriage is such stuff as
dreams are made on.
Can you tell me about how you
and your husband Joe met?
Reba - Well I worked at Jabaley
and Isaac clothing store in town
(McCaysville). [His brother] Ike
would talk of how sweet Joe
was, what a wonderful person he
was. His brother co-owned the
store. So Joe came down to work
in it and we just fell in love. Joe
talked to his brother about it
‘cause they were Catholics and
they didn’t believe in divorce,
and I was divorced and had a
son. He told Ike about it and [his
family] sent him back to Penn
sylvania. I thought that was it. In
two weeks I got a letter and he
asked if I would wait for him, he
had joined the army. I wrote back
and told him I would.
Shawna - She used to say all the
time, though, because of the
things that were said about him
and her not knowing him, that
she was in love with him before
she ever laid eyes on him.
Reba - Yeah, so he called from
Fort Bragg and wanted me to
meet him in Chattanooga. So we
went down and stayed up the
night talking. He went on to bed
and I went to the couch and slept.
I woke him up for breakfast and
he said, “Honey, will you marry
me?” I told him, he better think
what he’s going to give up. He
knew how his family felt about a
divorcee. He said, “Honey, I’m
not giving up anything, I’m gain
ing the world.” So we went and
got married that same day and
kept it secret for two months. He
had a weekend and asked me to
meet him in Chattanooga and we
got a motel, and as we walked
out of the motel the busiest gos-
sipers in Copperhill rode by.
(Laughing) He said, “Go right
now and call your mom.”
What was your relationship like
with your husband?
Reba - Well, we were together all
the time. It was just a perfect re
lationship. We worked together,
we planned things together, he
didn’t buy anything without me
and I didn’t buy anything with
out him. It was perfect in every
way. A lot of people said it
wouldn’t last, but it lasted 55-
and-a-half years.
Your husband was Lebanese.
Being Irish yourself, was there
anything that struck you about
his culture?
Reba - Nothing bothered me. I
worked for his brother for quite
a while. Joe’s mother and daddy
was bom in Lebanon and his
mother came over here first.
Then she met her second hus
band over here and that’s where
Joe and all of them come in. He
loved my family and I loved his
family and we all got along.
What about in the community?
Were there any racial issues in
volving your husband’s her
itage?
Reba - Oh, no. Everybody loved
him to death. You can’t find one
person that would say one bad
word about him. All the men that
worked with him, they loved him
to death. You would not believe
the crowd that was at that funeral
home. He always told me,
“Honey, this is my home.”
Shawna, can you talk about
what it was like growing up with
one Lebanese parent?
A MODERN FAIRY TALE - Reba Isaac, daughter of a copper miner, was married to hus
band Joe for 55 happy years until his death in 2006. Joe was a boiler maker by trade, but
loved the outdoors, was a rabid University; of Tennessee fan, and enjoyed panting and artistic
welding as well. Isaac’s home in McCaysville is filled with Joe’s artwork, many of which are
affectionately signed, “To my honey. ”Above Reba sits at her dining table behind photos of
she and the man who, in her eyes, hung the moon.
Shawna - Well, the culture was
totally different because you’ve
got people who were raised in
the south and their lifestyle was
different from the Lebanese side
of the family because, of course,
they have very different foods.
But then my grandmother, Sito,
which is “grandmother” in Ara
bic, couldn’t speak any English.
She had been in the states like 40
years when she died but couldn’t
speak English. All the kids grew
up speaking Arabic so that’s how
they’d talk to her. But we’d have
Sundays with Sito, and Daddy
had a sister here and we would
have all the Lebanese and Greek
kinds of foods, as opposed to
your country cooking. And then
Dad was with the Catholic
Church, which I loved. I don’t
practice anymore, but I loved it.
That was totally different than
the churches on this side. My
Mamaw was Church of God. To
me going to the Catholic Chinch
was just calming. It was to me a
beautiful service. There were a
lot of differences. I had a great
life growing up and I had the best
parents in the world. They were
always very affectionate with
each other and funny to be
around.
Shawna, can you describe what
your father was like?
Shawna - He was hysterical, ab
solutely hysterical. He was very
artsy and he loved the University
of Tennessee. He would get so
nervous when they played that
he would have to be busy. He
would start that morning and he
would draw on poster board a
football field and he would chart
the whole game, play by play.
We have stacks of them.
Reba, what did you and your
husband do together?
Reba - We went on vacation all
the time. We would go bowling.
We would walk to town because
we didn’t have a car until Scott
was getting ready to be bom. Joe
had never drove, so he finally got
his license. The first time he
drove by himself was when Scott
was bom and he went to the hos
pital. But we’d play basketball
with the kids out in the yard, and
we’d play games all the time. If
the kids didn’t have school we’d
stay up all night and play games.
When we’d go out he’d always
have my hand or I’d always have
his and people just couldn’t get
over it. We did everything to
gether. Even if I went over to the
neighbors he’d say, “Honey, how
long you gonna be gone?” That’s
one of the hardest things. I just
feel lost without him.
Shawna, have you and your
mother always had a good rela
tionship? Were there any turbu
lent times?
Reba - (Laughing) Just say we
butted heads a lot. Shawna
thought she was the boss.
What was Shawna
she was younger?
like when
Reba - Well, she cried for mom
all the time. When I’d cook sup
per [Joe] would have to hold her
and stand by me and she’d have
her hands on my shoulder. I’d let
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28 Bill Wigington Parkway
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her cry for a while, but I’d still
have to pick her up. That’s how
spoiled she was.
Shawna - I think it was when I
got married and [my husband]
and I moved away, because we
went to California and then we
lived in Florida for a while, I
think that’s when me and Mom
really started getting close be
cause being separated like that it
was like, I needed my Mom and
Dad.
What about discipline?
Shawna - (Laughing) I was not
very good sometimes. I would
get grounded for two weeks then
get off a week for good behavior
and then the first weekend I was
out I would be grounded again.
Now I could take Mom’s looks,
but with Dad, man, I couldn’t
stand it. He would pout and he
wouldn’t talk to me. No matter
how much I tried to talk to him
he would just grunt. But you
would always kiss goodnight and
tell each other you love each
other.
Shawna, I know you have a re
ally good relationship with your
two sons, Rich and Matt. Do
you think that was influenced
by the way you were raised?
Shawna - Oh, yeah. They stayed
with Mom and Dad, too. Mom
kept Rich for a little bit when I
went back to work. When we
came back here he was three
weeks old. I got to be with him
until he was eight months. I ac
tually went to work at the news
paper I was working for before I
got married, in Blue Ridge. I
only went back a couple days a
week and he had them the rest of
the time. Matthew, it took
Matthew a little longer because
he was a Momma’s boy. He
wanted to stay with me. But
they’ve always been close to
Mamaw and Papaw.
You come up to visit every other
weekend to visit your mother.
What do you two do together?
Reba - (Laughing) I like to go
and Shawna likes to stay.
Shawna - Well she’s always here
and she wants to go and I’m
tired. I just want to kick back and
relax. (Laughing) It helps with
[my brother] living here. He
takes her places. With them here
they plan meals together and so
we will cook, we bowl with the
Wii, play games. But we garden
and she will absolutely run cir
cles around me in the spring and
the summer.
It’s so rare to find someone with
such a good marriage. What’s
the secret to keeping a marriage
so healthy?
Reba - Be honest with one an
other and work together on any
situation. Be able to sit down and
talk things out. Don’t go to bed
mad. That’s what’s Shawna was
hunting for, someone like her
Dad.
Shawna - (Laughing) Well I
went in the wrong damn direc
tion.
Reba -1 told Shawna, when they
made your dad they threw away
the mold. I always wanted that
for all my kids, to have a happy
life.
se
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Bouncy for the Kids!
Music
Hill City Elementary
3rd Annual 5K Fun Run Oct. 16
We invite you to continue your fall running and join us on Sat
urday, Oct. 16 at 9 a.m. for another crisp, fall run in the mountains.
Strollers welcome! You may register this week or come by the
morning of the race at 7:30 a.m. and register before we start. Our
race is being professionally timed by Race Odyssey Events and is
part of the Run and See Georgia Grand Prix Series.
We would like to thank our generous sponsors for supporting
our event: Gold Level: Walmart; Bronze Level: Big Peach Run
ning Company; Bronze Level: ETC, Jasper Banking Company,
Roland Tire, Sharp Mountain Graphics, Ably Asian Cuisine,
Speedburger, The UPS Store, Gamer Ace Hardware, Jasper Tire
Company, R&R Trikes and Bikes, Microtel, Kroger, Renasant
Bank, Boyles Equipment Service, Blue Star Grocery, Bojangles,
Mullins Heating and Air, Race Odyssey Timing Events and Law-
son Chevrolet. We would also like to thank our family sponsor
Paw-Paw and Granzie Malone.
To register online please visit active.com, print a flyer from our
Web site at hces.pickenscountyschools.org. Hill City Elementary
is located 3 miles west of Highway 515 on Highway 53. Questions
about the race? Please contact Amy Rice, amy@intemationalart-
source.net or call 770-312-7165.