Earlier Years of Our Story

 

While in college, Susan visited a high school friend who lived in San Francisco, and she was fascinated by the beauty of the West Coast.  So, after college graduation, she moved there and accepted an elementary school teaching position.  Other adventures led her to Southern California, where she met Bob at a mixer at the Long Beach Naval Station Officers Club.  He had graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis the year before.  When asked where he went to school, he responded in his usual dry humor that he “went to a small school on the east coast.”  Susan comes from a family with three generations of West Pointers, and she had lived at West Point when her father taught law, so Bob didn’t fool her.  Annapolis vs West Point leads to another story later in their lives.  

 

We have two daughters, Ashley and Leslie, who both married West Point classmates!  Upon graduation, Ashley’s husband received an interservice transfer to the Navy and became an F/A-18 fighter pilot.  Today, Shawn is a VP with a company building and selling electric airplanes.  Leslie’s husband stayed in the Army for 6 years before he joined the Navy to become an endodontist.  Geoff retired after serving his 20 years and he now  owns an endodontist practice in Charlotte, NC.  Bob loves to tell the story of how he convinced two lost souls who went down the wrong path to West Point, to see the light and transfer into the Navy.  When you first meet Bob, remember his dry humor when he tells you something you don’t believe.

 

Discovering I’On

 

Our journey to the I’On neighborhood began in the summer of 2014, when we first saw this unique community nestled right over the new bridge from Charleston.  We vacationed at Kiawah over the years, and we had heard of the I’On planned community.   Captivated by its picturesque streets, lush garden spaces, huge wild oak trees with hanging moss, and two canals connecting East Lake with West Lake, Susan knew she had found the community that she had been seeking for their retirement.  It was not a golf community, and families of all ages lived in these charming homes, so they bought a three-level home overlooking East Lake to start a new chapter in their lives.  We returned to Alexandria, VA, where we had lived for 30 years, to begin the process of selling our home.  The thought of leaving Alexandria with its fond memories was a bit scary.  Bob had spent all of those years supporting the Navy in various shipbuilding projects, while Susan had been a schoolteacher before transitioning to a successful career in real estate.

 

From the outset, we immersed ourselves in the exciting community life of I’On.  On the First Friday of August, we went to the neighborhood cocktail party where we were welcomed and introduced to others, making us feel like we instantly belonged.   At one of our first potluck dinners, we met a couple and with them formed a couple’s dinner group that continued until one of the couples moved away.  We bought a Cockapoo puppy named Aly and met more friends as we walked the neighborhood (As you can see from the pictures, Aly is totally a member of the family and is shamelessly spoiled by Bob.)  We both joined book clubs (Susan and Bob—Aly can read, but can’t turn the pages).  Our four granddaughters loved to visit I’On with their cousins, and our home became too small to have both families celebrate holidays together at the same time, so we moved to a larger home across from Perseverance Park.

 

Our lives in I’On today

We had just moved into our new home and hosted the last First Friday cocktail party when Covid changed our lives in general and inside gatherings in particular.  However, we neighbors could take daily walks and meet each other outside as we stood 6 feet away.  The famous Fourth of July parade and the annual spectacular Fireworks also continued.  Because the ladies that had coordinated the I’on Women’s Coffee moved away, Joyce Stifel and Susan became the new coordinators for the Trust that sponsors the coffee, and they began hosting the coffees outside.  At the first coffee in April 2021--75 ladies attended with 26 newcomers joining us! Patti Johnston and Jane Bush hosted the event at the Captain’s House in the courtyard behind the Square Onion, thanks to Taylor Bush who had his office there.   Three years later, Joyce and Susan passed the leadership to younger new ladies and it continues to bring old and new friends together.  Susan has joined the landscape committee to participate in the renewal of the 25-year-old Perseverance Park that was planted when Ion was created.

 

Bob belongs to several men’s groups and faithfully attends a Zoom call with his USNA classmates every week.  We belong to Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church in the Old Village.  We enjoy belonging to “I’On at Home”, and participating in the many interesting activities and gatherings that the group sponsors.  Susan uses the I’On Club for its classes, pool, and sauna.  We have also enjoyed several overseas trips since we moved here.  We traveled with our families before Covid to France, and England, and attended a cousin’s wedding in Spain.  Last year, we took a Viking River cruise to Paris and Normandy.  This year, we went to Prague and cruised the Danube River to Budapest.  

 

The years have passed and I’On has evolved, but it never loses its charm and the chance to meet new and interesting people. It is a part of our story about retirement life; building connections, celebrating memories, hosting friends and family, and enjoying our four teenage granddaughters, who still love to visit us here.  We carry fond memories of the past and hope for a continued bright future.  After all, it is the place we’ve called home for almost 10 years.