Bosom Buddies

Warm weather makes me happy. The warmer the better.

After being cooped up all winter, all I want to do is go outside and enjoy the longer days, fresh air and warm sunshine. Just let me go grab a bathing suit, towel, suntan lotion and a picnic lunch and I'm ready for the day.

On this particular day I was ready for the lake... Lake Moultrie! Ahhh… I can feel the hot sand between my toes as I remember this fun-filled, sun-filled day. My cousin always had one of his three boats available for us to use and this day it was the jet boat -- fast and furious – with its powerful twin engines and deep, rich, sparkly burgundy color. We thought we were “cool” when we were in this magnificent machine... And we were!

It was to be a day of water skiing. The girls were not great skiers but the guys were phenomenal as it was nothing for them to ski right over to the shoreline and step out of their skis. Show offs! It was time for my cousin and my best girlfriend to ski, so they jumped in the water.

Ready…

Set...

Go!

They were off and doing a great job. Well, a much larger boat passed by creating a huge wake and the wake from that larger boat headed right toward the skiers. It was like everything was in slow motion.

My friend’s ski sliced right through the wave coming out the other side. Then her body slapped into the wake like it was a solid wall…

Splat!

Splash!

She was down.

My cousin, seeing this, started swimming toward her to assist and when he got within reach, all of a sudden, he turned and swam toward his boat. My friend was rather annoyed that she was being ignored. She was laying on her back in the water, flapping her arms like she was a bird trying to take flight and her chest was exposed to the elements... BARE!

The wake had knocked off her bikini top. I signaled to her to check out her chest. “Oh, my goodness,” she squealed, “no wonder he left me out here.”

Glancing over to her right was the bikini top... Floating in the water!

So, if you're going out for a day of water sports, may we suggest a one piece?

It might not have actually been the longest day of the year but I’m sure it seemed like it for her.

~Jeannie Joyner

Aye, Aye, Corporal Punishment

I was an only child so attention was something that I never really lacked.

One day I aggravated my father to the point that he “threatened” to spank me. Now understand this period... In all my life my father had NEVER laid a hand on me... NOT ONCE! But this particular day, I took my father at his word.

I ask myself, “What am I going to do to keep this from happening?” In my 6-year-old mind, I thought, if I could just hide all of his belts then that would solve the problem and he would never be able to follow through with his threat. So, I collected every one of his belts, found an old wooden Coke crate, gently rolled each belt into a circle and placed them in the Coke crate... Under the kitchen sink... Pushed way back up against the wall.

 My father, getting dressed for work the next morning, asked me where his belts were. I said, “I'm not giving them to you until you promise not to spank me.” One week later and still without his belts to hold up his pants he said, “I promise not to spank you if you will just tell me where my belts are hidden.”

 I led him into the kitchen, opened the cabinet, showed him the crate and there, still tucked into the Coke crate were his belts. He looked at me and smiling, just shook his head. “Who would have ever thought to hide these?”

My dad got his belts. I got his promise – No spanking!

And I never purchased a single belt for my dad for Father’s Day.

~ Jeannie Joyner

Taste the Rainbow (Row)

(A Brief History of Rainbow Row)

If you were to ask a native Charlestonian about Rainbow Row (i.e., What is it?, Where is it ?, Etc.) your answers would be pretty much the same from them all. We all know something about the pretty pastel houses lined up along East Bay Street, south of Broad Street. You might get some personal answers like – “they have been there as long as I remember” or “that their colors never change.” These bits and pieces are true as far as they go, but you would be missing what Paul Harvey would call – “the rest of the story.”

The houses of Rainbow Row were built between 1748 and 1845 along the riverfront as commercial units with living space on the second and third floors. Over the course of their existence, these houses from 79 to 107 East Bay Street have seen prosperity and recession; wind, rain and storm; and most notably massive damage from hurricanes, fires and earthquakes. Through all of these misfortunes, the “Row” has stood due in part to the resilience of their individual owners, but mostly due to the overall sense of community that pressed for their rebuilding, repair, or renovation.

These homes have been the property of many Charleston notables and their families as well as those who came to visit and never left. This collage of personalities saw the “Row” through the early years of new industry and growth as well as the years of war and sorrow. They also brought the row from economic success to the drab darkness of decay. Compounded by Charleston’s famous fires and earthquakes, Rainbow Row fell to its lowest point in the early 1900s when it was seen as the slum of the “east-side.”

Not wanting visitors or residents to take this visage as a lasting impression of Charleston, several of Charleston’s ablest citizens took it upon themselves to change the “Rows’” image. Starting with Susan Pringle Frost’s purchase of several of the houses beginning in 1920 and subsequent purchases by Lionel and Dorothy Legge in 1931 and John McGowan in 1938, the properties from 79 to 107 East Bay were restored, rebuilt or renovated to the “glory” that is theirs today. When Justice and Mrs. Legge purchased 99/101 East Bay for restoration, Mrs. Legge decided on the Caribbean Pink exterior to help cool the house during the Charleston summers, not necessarily so people could tell which one was theirs. The other owner followed suit with pastel colors of their own choosing thus giving us what today is referred to fondly as Charleston’s Rainbow Row.

The effect of their transformation resulted in the Charleston Society for Preservation of Old Homes, later to be known as Charleston’s Preservation Society. Along with the influence of the Charleston Historical Society, other parts of Charleston became targets for renewal and restoration followed by adaptation of local legal codes. These codes guided not only the restoration of Charleston’s neighborhoods, but also the building of new properties so that they would not detract from Charleston’s unique historical look and feel.

These thirteen homes on East Bay Street have stood the test of time to become the longest row of Georgian style architecture in the country. “Rainbow Row” is a beacon of its citizens’ strength when faced with adversity and as part of Charleston is reflective of the city's grace and style.

~ David Joyner

The Family Jewels

I like jewelry.

I save up my money to pick out jewelry every year — each year I find a special ring. It takes a long time to save up for.

I love going to Florida. When we go to events like Mardi Gras at Universal Studios, I enjoy getting beads and different necklaces. I sometimes wear necklaces. When we were in Florida and went into a Jewelry store in Disney World, all they had were silver rings. 

I travel and look for different things that I like.

I found a shop, Golden ‘N Memories, that used to be in Dollywood, which is where we met Melinda and Larry the first time. They enjoy Southern Gospel like I do and we had fun talking to one another.  Larry would pull the trays out for me to look at, touch, hold and try on. I look for rings that fit nicely but if not, they’ll size it for me.

Larry creates each ring as a piece of art. Kinda like mom — One works with intricate rings while mom paints on larger canvases. He does good work just like mom does.

The first ring I ever picked out here was a silver color with a Black Onyx. Then I found a clear ring when I returned the second year.

My favorite color is purple. I have many different color rings. I have a ring that’s like the sky and different color blues. Blue like the sky is one I definitely look for.

All of the rings are gemstones; I think I have a Purple Agate. My favorite ring is — I have so many I can’t even remember — I'll say it’s the black and gray-ish in the shape of a road. I just like it.

It’s been about 2 years since Larry passed away, but I still go to the store to pick out special rings that he had made before he died.

The first time I went in after that I hugged Melinda… and found some special rings.

I look forward to finding my next special edition to the ring family. I always find something special. Sometimes a ring. Sometimes something even better.

~ John Joyner

** You can visit Melinda’s Gold ‘N Memories at https://www.facebook.com/goldnmemoriesonline/

Unsung Heroes

Do you find that most people who have served in the military during war time are reluctant to speak about it?

My father-in-law, who was rejected the first time he tried to enlist because of his eyesight and hearing, later served in the Navy. My father served twice in France and Germany under General Patton. Both of these men, heroes in our eyes, came home.

Many were not so lucky.

Later, my father-in-law raised five remarkable young men, 3 went on to enlist in the Navy with one of them ranking into the Construction Battalion Force (C-B) of the Navy, the Seabees!

So as we commemorate those on this Memorial Day, we are thankful for ALL the brave men and women who sacrificed ALL for our freedom.

~ Jeannie Joyner

Let Gogh and Let God

I've always loved the arts... All of them!

Singing, sewing, painting, cooking, designing, you name it, I wanted to try it.

I made outfits for all my dolls, by hand, cooked cakes in my “Easy-Bake” oven at night, in the dark, while my parents slept. I would sing at the top of my lungs for my mama and she would always say that I was gonna grow up to be an opera singer. I didn't achieve that but I am a first soprano. Second grade – finger painting-- my teacher was so impressed with my painting that she asked my mother if she could keep it and display it on the bulletin board. I was so proud. That was the start of it all.

Little did I know that my tiny stick figures, trees, houses, flowers would evolve into something quite different, and something that I am happy to be able to share with all of you today.

So, enjoy all the festive, eye-catching colors of our Lowcountry and hopefully they will give you as much joy as they have given me.

~ Jeannie Joyner

Forever In Blue Jeans

It's no secret that I love clothes. Just ask my friends and family. I can blame that on my mom cause she made sure I was perfectly “put together” before I left the house in the mornings.

When I was in elementary school most little girls wore dresses… with crinolines. So when my mom dressed me in a pair of blue jeans with a plaid flannel lining that turned up into a cuff, I thought my world had come to an end. How could she have done this to me? She knew that I wanted to look nice for school. I wanted to wear my dress, my hair bow that matched my dress, my lace-trimmed socks and my crinolines... Two to three of them. Starched stiff!

If she thought I was going to school dressed like a farmer she was wrong! So I plopped myself down outside the front door and boohooed! I cried and cried! By that time my mother was feeling defeated. I was not budging and I certainly was not going to school to have the kids laugh at me. From the kitchen, I could hear my mom say, “It's alright I'll never try to make you wear blue jeans again.” And she didn't.

I think she gave my jeans away.

~ Jeannie Joyner