There wasn’t a dry eye around Joseph Eagers, Jr. (Joe)
at what was his last visit to the beach.

“When death is coming, there are few material things that matter,” said Maggie Clark, Hospice Care of the Lowcountry Volunteer Coordinator. “What is important are experiences, family, love and comfort.”

Joe Eagers, a long time Hilton Head Island resident, and his daughter, Jan Eagers, spent the last year of his life reminiscing, reflecting, and sharing their bond for each other. Joe, who lead a very active life up until last year, had been bed bound for nearly 16 months, in hospice care, with death imminent. At Jan’s direction, Hospice Care of the Lowcountry carried out her final wish for her father—a trip to the beach in Joe’s longtime neighborhood, Sea Pines.

It’s summer. Yippee. Run to the hammock and let’s play a game. I want you to lie back and relax into thinking about something you want to accomplish this summer. Here’s the sentence.

Fill in the blank:
“This is the summer I want to ...”

What? Name your heart’s desire. Keep it clean. Think about your own well-being.

Want to run a 10k? (Great for the body.)

Learn to play guitar? (Good for the brain.)

Meditate for 15 minutes a day? (Marvelous for equanimity and everything else.)

You know my theory: When the seasons change, so can we. In summer especially, we tend to take more time for ourselves, play more and have more fun. If you’re ready this summer, you can create new habits and attitudes that make your life richer and riper.

It's time to roll my shoulders, press through the balls of my feet and take a strong stand on proper posture. It's super-important to your health and wellness—right up there with eating real food and getting enough sleep—but it's just not top of mind when we think of ways to boost our energy and prevent pain. When it comes to awareness of the awesomeness of body alignment, the country is in a slump.

So let's look at a few things everyone with a spine ought to know about posture and why it matters, inspired by an article in IDEA Fitness Journal by personal-training specialist Ryan Halvorson.

My garage was so overwhelming I began dreaming about it. In my dream I got swallowed whole by the mound of stuff piled high and bubbling over like an erupted volcano. All I wanted was to find the bicycle pump—probably to pull my bike out and escape the garage forever.
The garage has not always been a disaster. There have been times when I parked my car in there, or had a ping pong table set up when the children were still at home. But then came the perfect storm.

Remember Hurricane Matthew? Well, that’s when things got bad. When two gigantic pine trees came through the roof of the house, everything that was salvageable had to be moved out. Every. Thing. The garage was one of only two rooms undamaged. So all the stuff—14 years of family-of-four-stuff went into the garage and two Pods that sat in the driveway for the next 18 months. Those 18 months held another disaster—divorce. There’s nothing like splitting everything up when it’s all stacked up as tall as it is wide. As such, most of it got left behind for lucky me.

Adored author Dorothea Benton Frank was a mama bear in every sense of the word. Her protective motherly spirit not only applied to her two children, but also lovingly extended to her friends, family, Southern roots and ever-growing circle of fellow writers. She gave so much love, laughter and instant friendship while living, that in her death, her friends and family still feel the immense authentic embrace that Dottie so naturally enveloped people in.

Out this month, Reunion Beach, sure to be a No. 1 bestseller, pays homage to Dottie, holding vigil her legacy for all who love her. “When Dottie died in the fall of 2019, her friends in the literary community were bereft. Her loss was a hole in their lives that could not be filled. Inspired by the title Dorothea Benton Frank planned for her next book—Reunion Beach—these close friends and colleagues channeled their creativity, admiration and grief into stories and poems that celebrate this remarkable woman and her abiding love for the lush Lowcountry of her native South Carolina—a land of beauty, history, charm and Gullah magic she so brilliantly brought to life in her acclaimed novels.”

Imagine if you could be happy every day, unaffected by the world’s problems and absorbed in the simple joys of creativity and friendship, spreading light and smiles to everyone who crossed your path. Now imagine being stuck at home with nothing to do, no one to talk to, and no sense of purpose in your life. The contrast between these two possibilities is as stark as sunshine and darkness.

In this dual reality faced by adults with intellectual and physical disabilities, the second scenario is all too common. But it’s also the reason for the first scenario, created by a trio of big-hearted women who have made the sun shine on a lot of very special people.

In 2005, Hilton Head Island was introduced to a new kind of play for children. The Sandbox, a non-profit, interactive children’s museum, opened its doors, welcoming in all local and visiting children to come learn while having a whole lot of fun.

Now, The Sandbox has been disguising learning as fun for more than 16 years with each child offered a choice of activities and space while playing at the museum. With so many interactive and hands-on activities, kids are guaranteed to have the best time. And, they all leave with pieces of wisdom they didn't come in with. But children are not the only ones who enjoy the museum. Parents are often wowed by the positive stimulation the museum provides in the form of playing and they maybe even learn something themselves.

Here are 10 small ways to volunteer and
make a difference this Earth Day:

1. Clean up a local beach.
Over 14 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the ocean each year. Help clean it up.

2. Plant a garden at your home or school.
Another fun way to give Mother Earth some love this Earth Day!

Fun, infectious cheer delightfully mixed with
enlivening fresh air as you frolic among the oaks...
did that just describe your last visit for groceries? It did mine!

Nestled in the center of Port Royal, outside the Naval Hospital, you’ll find beautiful Naval Heritage Park. Its oak-filled space and tranquility is inviting throughout the week, but come Saturday morning, the park takes on a complete transformation. It’s a weekly event you don’t want to miss—The Port Royal Farmer’s Market. Stocked with vendors (but safely spread out for social distancing), you’ll find tables laden with beautiful fruits and vegetables, homemade baked goods and steaming fresh food. And best of all, whether they’re beaming with pride, or buyers excited to purchase healthful and homemade goods, you’ll find passion-filled people.

Our beaches are world-class destinations for tourists, and our communities are growing like mushrooms as more and more people relocate here for the quality of life. It’s the beauty and wonder of our ecosystems that draw us all to the Lowcountry. Kayaking, fishing, paddle boarding, the beach and nature walks allow us to learn and appreciate the magical, yet fragile world around us—and we certainly enjoy the fresh, local oysters and shrimp.

It’s the mission of The Outdoor Foundation, a local nonprofit organization, to preserve and protect our local environment and to get kids outside to help them become aware of the importance of maintaining a healthy environment by showing them how to protect and preserve—and enjoy— our coastal ecosystem. 

What are your financial goals? This is the first thing any financial planner should know about you. Many may think everyone’s goal is to make the most money possible, but surprisingly it’s not. People have different priorities in how they want their assets protected and their nest egg to grow. Some want to ensure they can have the same lifestyle in retirement as they did during their working years. Some want to see their assets create a legacy and last for generations to come. Others want to ensure their grandchildren have higher education opportunities. And then there are those—lots of those—who just don’t want to lose any money. Everyone’s situation is different, and a financial planner who listens, understands the difference, and plans accordingly.

Most of us are happy to bid last year farewell. 2020 will live in infamy for years to come, and will go down as the year that COVID-19 considerably changed our lives and the way we conduct business, if we have been able to conduct business at all. Well, the insurance industry is no different. We have not only felt affects of COVID-19, but we have also had the worst year in history of tropical storms and hurricanes. There were 30 named storms, of which 12 made landfall in the U.S.

The new year has begun, and with it comes many people who have made buying or selling a home part of their 2021 resolutions. While ongoing unemployment claims remain elevated due to COVID-19, they are substantially lower than what they were during their peak and have had little effect on buyer demand thus far. For the 12-month period spanning February 2020 through January 2021, pending sales in the Hilton Head region were up 35.9 percent overall. The price range with the largest gain in sales was the $650,001 and above range, where they increased 98.6 percent.

Securing a mortgage is what stands between you and buying the house
you want to call home. It’s not uncommon for people to be frightened of the mortgage process, but don’t let that deter you from homeownership.

Often first-time potential homeowners think qualifying for a mortgage is unattainable because it seems like some sort of big mystery, impossible to understand, or just too much to deal with. While the process can be complicated, an experienced mortgage lender can break it all down for you and get you to move-in day.

There is no question that the real estate market bounced back in an unsurpassed way after COVID-19 first took hold last spring. The result led to demand far outpacing supply. Bidding wars were commonplace, and we closed multiple transactions without the buyers ever having set foot in the property until after it closed. None of us could have anticipated that this would be a part of the real estate narrative for 2020. 

Dear Carrie: My daughter is starting high school this year, and I'm worried about paying for college. I've saved some money, but as a single mom, I'm afraid I just won't be able to cover it all. Is there anything I can do to increase her chances of receiving financial aid? —A Reader

Dear Reader: I'm glad you're asking this question now while you still have several years to plan for college. As I'm sure you know, college can be expensive, but it's also one of the best investments you can make in your daughter's future—not only in terms of education but also for her career opportunities and lifetime earnings.

Spring is a great time to get away from it all and take a giant deep breath. You can slip into escape mode the fast way with multiple margaritas, or you can slow down and figure out a plan to get back to nature, into the woods, on a lake, up a mountain, down a river—paddling, hiking, camping, fishing, walking, breathing, whatever suits your soul.

Your fitness goal? Renewal of the spirit. Your health will benefit greatly from a sharper focus and a serene attitude. That’s what a few days or weeks in the backcountry can do for you.
Here are some tips to help you plan and enjoy a hiking trip, especially if it’s your first:

The human brain is such a miraculous organ, even it cannot imagine or utilize its full potential. Like a computer, if the brain is programmed the right way, it can make us function properly. If programmed wrong, life can become overwhelming, stressful or dark. The good news is most of the time we get a choice in how to program our brains—negative or positive.

With all the uncertainty happening in the world right now, it has become increasingly easy to negatively program our brains, which guides our thoughts and emotions. “When people flood their brains with fear-based images, interactions and information, their anxiety levels increase,” said Debbie Anderson, Community Education Director at Memory Matters on Hilton Head Island.

Welcome to 2021, the era of searching for love in a pandemic that seems endless. In this younger generation—20-somethings—we are dependent on our smartphones to connect us to the dating world. Why can’t we have the luxury like generations before us when social media was absent from the love equation and dating apps were nonexistent? An equation should be immutable, so my question is, “Why are things so different?” The answer points directly to dating apps and social media and how they have affected this generation's perspective on the way to find love...and how to behave in the process.

“I could not live without Champagne.
In victory I deserve it, in defeat I need it.” —Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was a fan of champagne, and this quote of his is on point for 2021, thus far. Really, it applies to just life in general. A glass of bubbles always lends itself to lightening things up. In raising a glass to more good times than bad ahead, here are six scrumptious, sparkling selections in every price point to celebrate victories, soothe defeats and calm your nerves in between. These selections are also perfect for adding a pop of magic to your Valentine’s (or Galentine’s) Day celebrations.

2021 is a very special year. It marks the 60th anniversary of WAHHI, the Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island. It was first organized in January 1961 as the Hilton Head Garden Club by 23 forward-thinking women with a mission to beautify the island. Their first projects were planting azaleas around Coligny Circle, followed by a cleanup of the historic Zion Cemetery on Route 278. As the projects grew, more women joined, and in 1965, the name was changed to WAHHI.

Since then, the membership and boundaries have expanded to include greater Bluffton and Daufuskie Island. The organization has grown into a community of almost 600 multi-generational women with diverse backgrounds and talents. WAHHI’s goals are to promote the natural and cultural beauty of the Lowcountry, to encourage projects which benefit the community and to facili-tate communication among the women of the island.

According to a popular meme, the first rule of 2021 is to never talk about 2020.

Enticing proposal. However, we probably shouldn’t listen to a riff off of Brad Pitt’s line in Fight Club, especially since 2020 gave us a lot of material for making drastic changes. Maybe, instead, we could structure our 2021 game plan according to another classic 1999 film: The Matrix. Rather than trying to forget the past (as the meme jokingly suggests), we choose a mindset—like the red pill in The Matrix—to see necessary truths for knowing how to exponentially improve our lives.

Look at it this way: We can either bury the pile of memories from a year we’d love to forget, or use that plethora of experiences as opportunities for rising in life-altering, empowering ways.

Wherever you happen to be on the rewarding and rocky road to a healthier lifestyle, you’ll travel more gently and feel more joy if you learn to make friends with your Inner Critic.

We all have one, and it is alive and kvetching, causing us to constantly question our behavior, our thoughts, our accomplishments: “How am I doing? Am I doing well enough­—in my relationships, at work? Do others see what I’m doing? Do they approve?”

Psychologists call this critical voice the Standard Setter. (And you thought it was called Mom.) It’s the part of the human psyche that sets the bar for us. It’s a good thing in many ways, as a source of inspiration, as a spur to achievement.

When I was a child growing up in Griffin, Georgia, I was tall with a thin frame. I loved playing outside and never turned down the opportunity to show my athleticism during pick up games of kickball, basketball, football, dodgeball, or jump rope with my friends from the neighborhood. How much I weighed was the last thing on my mind, but as I became a teenager, my boyish frame sometimes landed me at the brunt of jokes by the “pretty girls,” who had hour-glass figures that caught the attention of all the guys at school. However, I found a way to use my scrawny build to my advantage. I became a runner on my high school track team. The 400-meter race became my hideaway from my body-shaming critics, who were silenced when I was victorious.

The Vision Statement for the Child Abuse Prevention Association (CAPA) of Beaufort County states: “All children deserve to be loved, nurtured and kept safe
from intentional and unintentional harm.” This vision is so simple
and pure that it seems like it would be a given.

But it’s not.

Since opening in 1985, the Open Arms Children’s Home, just one part of
the CAPA organization has provided that safe harbor for more than
2,300 children. Let that number sink in for a minute.

The pandemic may feel like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, but the magic of the holiday season is alive and well, filled with hope and real miracles right here in the Lowcountry.

The 33rd annual Festival of Trees, a longtime fundraiser filled with holiday tradition for Friends of Caroline Hospice, was cancelled this year due to the covid pandemic. For more than three decades, businesses and organizations sponsored trees by purchasing and decorating them. The public then bought the well-appointed, beautiful trees for either for their homes, to give to a hospice patient, or for a military family. This holiday fundraiser typically raised $30-40,000 to provide palliative and hospice care, bereavement groups, and Camp Caroline, a bereavement camp for students.

The sweet homey smell of freshly baked cookies and savory meals. The heartwarming feeling of snuggling into soft blankets with hot cocoa while watching favorite holiday movies. The sound of conversations and laughter rising and falling around family and friends as they make new memories. The whimsical sights of twinkling lights and festive decorations transforming the ordinary world into a wonderland.

Here comes the December dilemma: Am I going to enjoy this holiday season or not?
We all have obstacles to overcome: too little time; too little money; too much
commercial merrymaking. And that's not to mention the nightly news!

And still, dear reader, we have a personal choice this December: Do I get into the holiday spirit and juice up my well-being... or not? We've got Hanukkah and Christmas and the winter solstice coming up, all leading to the end of the year, when we make resolutions to find true love, or lose 20 pounds, or make good on that promise to work smarter, not harder.

There are a few things Santa looks for in choosing his very best helpers, especially when both Mr. and Mrs. Claus are called for duty together. You better know he has a list and checks it twice!

Happily Married? Check!
Joe and Susan Patton have been married 53 years and are still madly in love and best friends. When asked what the secret is to their long, successful marriage, Joe said there are no secrets. “We tell each other when we’re unhappy.”
Susan added, “Sharing our principles of faith together is an important part of it.” They both agreed quarantining together most of the year has not been a bad thing.