25 IslandVibesIOP.com BELVA'S FLOWER SHOP IS MT. PLEASANT'S FIRST AND OLDEST FLORIST, founded in 1956 by BELVA J. WILLIAMS. Belva's high standards and excellence continues with Jim Sumner and his wife Debra CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND QUALITY WORK ARE OUR FIRST PRIORITIES. We have the ultimate guarantee and strive to stand behind it. We pursue the highest quality flowers and hold these standards to our vendors all over the world. VOTED BEST FLORAL SHOP IN MOUNT PLEASANT! CALL OR VISIT US TODAY! 1965 Riviera Drive #4 Mount Pleasant, SC 843-884-9576 • belvasflowershop@hotmail.com Online Ordering Available! Love is in Full Bloom – Find the Perfect Valentine’s Day Bouquet! The Heartfelt Harringtons Longtime island residents Deborah and Rusty Streetman will celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary on May 20. When asked the secret to a decades-long marriage, Deborah was quick to reply, “Rusty signed a contract — 'til death do us part.’ He knows what it would take to get out of it.” The Sweet Streetmans From Page 24 Patrick returned to South Carolina for Christmas break and again asked Barby to marry him, this time on New Year’s Eve. Barby recalled, “We were dancing. I told him, ‘I think I could do this forever.’ He said, ‘Does that mean what I think it means?’ And I said, ‘Yes!’ I fell in love with him while he was dancing and I said yes to him while we were dancing. It was meant to be.” Patrick and Barby were married on Feb. 11, 1967, in Charleston on a balmy 70-degree day. They set out to live in Michigan after their wedding and Barby remembered, “As we drove into Ohio it started to snow and I said, ‘Ooh snow!’ By the springtime I said, ‘Where are the azaleas?’” Barby’s mother was still living on the Isle of Palms at that time and Barby returned for family reunions throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Patrick had completed a 37-year teaching and coaching career in Michigan when the Harringtons moved to the Isle of Palms full-time. Patrick and Barby have a son in Virginia and a daughter and two grandsons living in Charleston. “We have a close family dynamic, no matter where we are,” said Barby. “I moved to Sullivan’s Island when I was 11 and back to the Isle of Palms in 2003 and I’m not going anywhere else,” stated Barby. Here’s to happily ever after for the Harringtons and happy anniversary! Sweet laughter from Rusty and Deborah followed her remark. A shared sense of humor is top on the Streetmans’ list of tips for a long-lasting marriage. “It’s a little bit of luck and a little bit of humor and a lot of just showing up for each other every day. We dated when we were young and we dated when our girls were little and we continue to date every single day, even now,” explained Deborah. Two daughters, a grandson and one great-grandson later, the Streetmans continue to laugh and love and interrupt and complete each other’s sentences. Speaking with Rusty and Deborah was like stepping back in time while simultaneously experiencing an energy typically associated with a younger generation. Both hailing from small towns in upstate South Carolina, Rusty and Deborah met in the mid-1960s. Though they had mutual acquaintances and their parents knew each other, Rusty and Deborah didn’t meet until Deborah was hired to demonstrate how to use the newly developed self-service gas pump. Deborah recalled, “I was working for my aunt, handing out coupons to her restaurant, Quick Burger, at a local filling station, showing potential customers how to pump their own gas, a novel concept at the time. Rusty showed up for a coupon and a lesson in how to use the pump. I taught him how to pump gas!” Rusty continued, “We both later attended a dance, not together, but we were both there. We ended up dancing together and…” Deborah joined in here and they both completed Rusty’s sentence, “the rest is history.” Cheers to many more years to come, Rusty and Deborah! SPECIAL
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