Only on Hilton Head: How Rosemary bloomed on the island

The dawn of the new year is a time when some of us reinvent ourselves.

Rosemary Staples has been doing it for years.

After the trauma of losing her husband to a brain tumor, she left Atlanta with her young son and resettled in Shipyard Resort. She later moved to Evergreen Lane in the Club Course section of Sea Pines.

When we met in the 1990s, Rosemary and I both were reinventing ourselves.

I was returning home to finish my interrupted trajectory through academia.

Rosemary was trying to put down roots in a place where she could nurture her son in a safe environment with all the accouterments of a wholesome lifestyle.

Our paths soon took off in different directions.

But we stayed in touch and reconnected as friends over twenty years later, when I returned home with my husband a few years ago. Rosemary's son, Jonathon has grown up, graduated from college -- a couple of times -- and is doing just fine living in Nashville.

All the while, her reinvention continued.

She is the sort of person that once she finds a new hobby or interest, she's all in.

Take biking, for example.

Rosemary was into bicycling around the island in the early '90's. She owned a state-of-the-art ride along with the accompanying athletic wear, accessories, and of course, she belonged to a biking club.

At the time, I was attending classes during the day, and working nights in a Mexican restaurant in the Village at Wexford called Marguerita. And wasn't into bikes.

At some point in one of our conversations over coffee, when I was distracted, Rosemary said, "Hey, do you want to go to Charleston, and ride in the Annual American Lung Association's Bike-a-Thon?"

I must have said yes. As I said, I was distracted. A a few weeks later, I found myself rolling up and down Charleston and Sullivan's Island.

But that's Rosemary.

She has, in her time here, managed to harness and absorb the essence of the island. She has educated herself on its history, flora and fauna, watersports, barrier islands, and wildlife. She once owned a horse at Lawton Stables that she rode regularly, across the street from where she tended her Heritage garden. She also gave wagon tours through the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.

Not that all of that was enough.

She is now a Master Gardener, a Master Naturalist, and a regular member of Hilton Head's Toastmasters club.

Feng Shui is another outlet. When she's not guiding and teaching, she writes freelance articles for Hilton Head Monthly, Beaufort Magazine, and Pink Magazine.

Apparently, this reinvention business is an on-going process.

Carmen Hawkins De Cecco lives on Hilton Head Island. She blogs at hiltonheadblogangel.me.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Only on Hilton Head: How Rosemary bloomed on the island."