An 0pen Letter (The Hanahan, Goose Creek, and North Charleston News, February 27, 2008)
Farewell to Hanahan
Dear Editor:
Forty-eight years ago, fresh out of the Air Force, Mary and I and two sons came to live in Hanahan. Now we are leaving and could not just slide out of town without expressing what these 48-years in Hanahan have meant for us.
There could not have been a better place to live and raise a family; (three additional children were born during these years.) This is not an idle statement made by uninformed people. Mary and I were blessed to be curious. We traveled around the world and lived temporarily in Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. Always we came back to Hanahan happier than before.
The Hanahan schools and our church prepared our children for life’s challenges, college work and exciting career opportunities. Religious education, local sports and activities, high school sports and band programs, each contributed to making our family’s lives richer in so many ways.
Mary’s involvement in community, school, church and social activities provided some of the most pleasurable moments in her life. Her contributions helped to make Hanahan the best of places for us. She was proud early on to be dubbed, “Frankie’s mother.” The title stuck forever.
I could not have asked for more than the friendships, love and trust given to me. I was privileged to lead the Exchange Club to its first Big “E” award, to be elected to city council, to serve as city judge and to win three terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Recently our son, James, told me he looks around his world and sees spouses and children passing each other like ships on the high seas. He said, “They all eat dinner at different times and spend hardly any time together. I recall how all those years at five-thirty every day we sat at the table, seven people, and ate the evening meal. The day was reviewed. We were congratulated and corrected. Advice, wisdom, humor and love were dispensed. Those were the greatest days of our lives. That is the reason nothing is more important to all of your children than the concept of family.” This concept of family was made possible by life in Hanahan.
Now we start another adventure. Mary lives in Assisted Living at Franke at Seaside and I am taking an apartment there so we can be on the same campus and together daily, as we have been in Hanahan. Physically, we leave – emotionally, we will always be a part of Hanahan, the best place to live and raise a family.
Francis X. Archibald
