About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2019)
Page 16, October 28, 2019, The Islander Weddings then funerals, and then weddings again apparently We learn many things as we get older... things that can only truly be learned by getting older. One of those things would be: cli ches are cliches for a reason - mostly because they are true. A big one for me was, the older I got, the more I realized that my par ents were right about everything, not just some things - everything!!! There’s also the inherent truth that as a young adult you go to multiple weddings of friends every year during your 20s and 30s. Then, the number of marriages de creases as you go through your 40s and 50s, during which the weddings are slowly replaced by funerals. The first funerals are usually for your’s and your friend’s parents. Then slowly but surely it’s your friends that start passing away - even those who are much too young. But last weekend a large group of old time St. Simons and Jekyll Island ers got a reprieve from funerals with the joy of a wedding - Bobby and Tina. He grew up on Parkwood and moved to a house on Frederica Rd. on St. Simons in the 7th grade where he was quickly taken in by the WOC - Wesley Oaks Crew. He and I played basketball in the 7th grade for Glynn County Junior High. Well, he played. I practiced and actually got put in once. As Brooks Livingston in-bounded the ball to me, I was instantly called for traveling. See, my father had put up a regu lation basketball goal in our backyard but didn’t pave underneath it. And fact is you can’t dribble a basketball on the grass no matter how hard you try. So my brother an I played a lot of horse and didn’t pick up the skill of dribbling, but I digress. She, a year or two younger, grew up on Jekyll and was close friends with a lot of our friends on St. Simons. That’s how Glynn County used to be, you might not know everyone, but there were always some kind of connections among family and friends. Also, in Glynn Academy, you al ways knew who people were even if you didn’t hang out together. It was just a smaller, tighter knit community. He was a widower, who stood strong until the very end, she was a divorcee who put a smile back on his face. The wedding was on Jekyll in the small Faith Chapel with her brother, an Episcopal minister, presiding. It was followed by a small gather ing at the Jekyll Island Club hotel’s porch. Then Saturday night, they let the dogs out.... an oyster roast at a fam ily member’s house in Brunswick Publisher The Islander EDITORIAL ppndig daily at which many, many old and dear friends turned out. Friends from Ala bama, California and South Carolina and other cities and towns showed up. A musician friend from At- lanta even made the trip to entertain the large crowed... and managed to get a bunch of oldsters dancing. There were a lot of people involved in putting on this event, and it’s not over yet. Another party is coming in a couple of weeks. But all the people, particu larly family members, who all had a hand in this momentous event deserve a big round of applause and a bigger “Thank You,” for all your hard work and dedication to our friends and your brother. While the wedding took place the weekend of the City Championship between Glynn Academy, where most of us went to school, and Brunswick High, it also took place the week before the Georgia / Florida game, which was by design - like my sister’s wedding, which was planned between our father’s golf tournaments. To those of you who couldn’t make the wedding for person al reasons, and you know who you are, just know that you were missed - everyone would have loved to have seen you - and our heart’s and prayers are with you and yours. So, after way too many fu nerals in the last couple of de cades... it was nice to be able to go back in time for at least a while and remember the joy of two people in love and get ting married. And judging from the parties... we may be old but the WOC hasn’t lost a step. Proudly Serving the Golden Isles Independent Living • Assisted Living • Memory Care • Skilled Nursing • Rehab 136 Marsh’s Edge Lane • St. Simons Island, GA 31522 MARSH’S EDGE (912) 324-3028 • Marshs-Edge.com ON ST. SIMONS ISLAND
