I should make this a two or three part post but for now I will just unload my raw and emotional feelings.
It was the spring of my freshman year at the Citadel and I was looking for a summer job so that I could stay in my beloved Charleston for the summer. The Athletic department knew that some of the team would be looking for jobs and so they kept their eye out for us. Ray Whitman called me one day and said they had a company interested in hiring cadets in the summer to make beds at a local resort. My thoughts were making beds equal being inside and plus all cadets could make beds..right? I agreed and that Saturday morning I signed out of the battalion and was picked up in what I thought was a snazzy ride...an Isuzu Trooper! Denise was driving and greeted us with her beautiful and assuring smile. We departed the city and crossed over the Ashley river and then the Wappoo cut on to James Island and headed South. I had never been further than the Piggly Wiggly on Maybank highway so the adventure begin. As we drove over beautiful prestine estuaries and under regal Oak canopies, I wondered where in the world were we going but it was so beautiful. The lushness of the foliage and those oak trees canopying over Bohicket road was something this upstate country boy had never seen . Finally the shade of the canopy disappeared and the sun beamed through as I saw fields of tomatoes and other crops, roadside stands of local vegetables and hand made woven baskets being manned by the world friendliest people.
As the car slowed down, we approached a sign on the left as we crossed another estuary that said, Kiawah Island. We drove further and crossed over a bridge and made a right before the security gate and pulled into Beachwalker park...and there is where I met Richard Callahan,Jr. aka Bob and my life would never be the same! Bob was a character and came off as a hardnose, actually I have a better word than that but you get the picture. He was busy lining things up and getting assignments. He assigned us to a crew and off we went. Bob and Denise had just started this company on the resort. He was a veteran and former supervisor at a local chemical plant and she was working at a dentist office. They were a blended family, Bob's two daughters, Dawn and Wendy and Denise's two daughters, Mandy and Carlie, and son, Mark. They ranged from teenagers to the smallest cutest, Carlie who had to be around 6 or 7!
This day would turn out to be an amazing day.
/////As I type this, I realize that this is a book! Anyway...as you will later read Bob became a driving force in my life and taught me tons about business! He beleived in me when no one else would or could and I am forever grateful! Honestly, if you want to hear more of this storied life...please leave me a comment. I will make me commit to writing this unbelievable tribute! I promise you, it gets better and even humorous!
