DI Families: Meet the Holmes Family
We continue our ongoing “Daniel Island Family” series with the Holmes family of Scott Street. Cindy Holmes’ warm, welcoming smile and outgoing demeanor are instantly recognizable, especially to the many families who’ve come to depend on her calm, efficient directions at the busy front desk of the Daniel Island School. Husband - and best friend - George, is a successful financial planner in Mt. Pleasant. When the Holmes aren’t working, they’re often busy hosting events at their home on Scott Street - or visiting with close-knit family and friends in the neighborhood. We managed to catch Cindy and George in a rare hour of down-time over the July 4th weekend, with dogs Gypsy, Ashley, and cat Ernie.
Can you tell us a little about your family?
I have worked at the front desk at the Daniel Island School since its opening in 2005. Before that, I worked as a real-estate assistant and a receptionist for a local chiropractor on the island, and as a front-desk clerk at Hanahan Elementary. I’ve been married to George (Holmes) for twelve years. I have two children by my late husband, Mike O’Grady who died in a plane crash in 2000 when my kids were little.
My eldest child, Julie, now 22, just graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in Education, and is now teaching second grade at Chicora Elementary in Charleston County. My son Justin, now 19, is going into his second year of Southwestern Iowa Community College and will be transferring to Iowa State, where he plans to graduate with a degree in Business Agriculture. This summer Justin is on an internship surveying the land and analyzing soil samples. His heart is in working the land in Iowa, where we lived when Mike died.
I grew up as an Air Force brat. My dad, a Colonel, was a fighter pilot in the Air Force for 30 years. My family lived in Atlanta, Alabama, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Germany, England and Korea, where I met my first husband, Mike. As an Air Force wife, I lived in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska, Tucson and Iowa.
How did you two meet?
George Holmes: I grew up in Raleigh, NC, but when I was young, my dad moved the family to upstate New York. I couldn’t wait to come back south. After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1997, I moved to Charleston and joined the Air Force as a 141 pilot, until 2002, when I got my Masters in Business Administration at the Citadel. It was then that I met Cindy through a friend and financial planner that we both happened to use. Cindy and I became friends first, just talking military talk. It was just a common language for both of us. Two years later, I decided to try this marriage thing. All of a sudden I became a husband and father with a brand new house and a new career. It was unreal.
How has all that moving around helped to shape who you are today?
CH: I think it’s helped make me good at what I do - welcoming everyone at the front office at the school. I know how good it feels to feel welcomed when you’re new somewhere because I was new somewhere my whole life.
GH: Cindy’s always comfortable at walking up to people to say hello to them. She’s always had to make new friends.
Why did you choose Daniel Island as a place to live?
In 2001, six months after Mike died, I moved back to the south with my two children. I’m from Atlanta, originally. My sister (Kathy Cole who currently works at Island Expressions on Daniel Island) was living in Mount Pleasant. Although my parents were living in Alabama, they were planning to move into a house they’d already bought here on Daniel Island. My mom suggested we look here, too.
At that time, there wasn’t much here on the island. No Publix. No Episcopal Church. Etiwan Park wasn’t even completed. The only place to get milk was the mini-mart at Tecklenberg’s Gas Station, with its “Happy Days” style diner where you could get hamburgers and sandwiches. And Smythe Park was just all woods. I fell in love with Daniel Island right away.
The island was so much smaller back then, exactly what I needed at the time. It was kind of like living on an Air Force base. I didn’t feel like I was trying to transplant into a neighborhood where everyone had been living for a while. Everyone was a newcomer here. It was a place where I could meet everybody and know that I wasn’t alone. Daniel Island was a place I could call “home”.
What drew you to the particular neighborhood you live in now?
This neighborhood, and Codner’s Ferry, which was basically all of Daniel Island at the time - was a lot of fun. Friday nights, different families would take turns inviting neighbors over to their house. There were always “Happy Hours” or “Wives Coffee” events at someone’s house. It was just one big group back then. Some of these gatherings still take place on my part of Scott Street where most of the residents are still “originals”. And, of course, we all get together every year to watch Super Bowl Sunday and celebrate New Year’s Eve.
What attracted you to the house you live in now?
The backyard! I didn’t even have to look upstairs to know I wanted this house, a resale, two years old when I bought it. As soon as I looked out the back window, I told myself ‘That’s what I want to look at everyday!” There was a pond, and trees all around. When I look outside I feel like I’m in the country. I couldn’t find this view anywhere else.
Do you plan to move anywhere else? On Daniel Island - or off?
At one point we thought about it. After we got married, we needed more room. At first, we thought about moving into George’s place - a huge house on a cul de sac in Brickyard Plantation, but I would have had to move the kids to a different school and I really didn’t want to do that. So then we looked at other houses here on Daniel Island. We kept coming back to this house. There’s just no way we could match what we have on Scott Street for the past 15 years. We ended up expanding the kitchen, adding on a master bedroom, a guest bedroom and an office for George.
GH: This was all at the beginning of the housing boom, so we probably made a smart financial move as well.
Where do you like to hang out?
CH: Our back porch is our favorite place to hang out. Otherwise, we like to going to my mom’s house or one of our neighbors’ houses. We also enjoy walks to Bellinger Island (at the end of Beresford Creek Street).
Do you prefer to eat out or stay in and cook?
CH: It’s too expensive to go out anymore. We can do steaks on the grill and a bottle of wine for just $20 at home! But I do enjoy going to Laura Alberts. We went there the first day the restaurant opened.
GH: And we love going to Concerts at the Volvo Center. We’ll have dinner across the street at Dragon Palace and enjoy a leisurely stroll home.
Do you have a family tradition?
CH: Fried chicken on the boat or at Scott Park pool. And when family comes to visit, we always have boiled shrimp, sliced tomatoes and corn. Sometimes, we go to a family reunion in Iowa with the O’Grady’s or visit George’s relatives in North Carolina and Vermont.
What are you reading right now?
CH: I’m making my way through Robin Carr’s “Virgin River” series. It’s about a family of four military brothers. It’s also a love story.
Any movies you’ve enjoyed recently?
CH: We loved “The Martian”, with Matt Damon. We also want to go see “Finding Dory” and “Tarzan”.
Have you travelled anywhere recently?
CH: We just got back from Andros Island, in Greece, visiting a friend of my mom’s. It’s just beautiful. And the people there are wonderful. They are very selfless. They make you feel part of the family while you’re there and go out of their way to help you, especially if you’re a foreigner. You just don’t find that a lot in America. We tend to be rude. Except here on Daniel Island, where, if you’re away for a while, shop owners will always ask where you’ve been.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
GH: My dad told me when I was 18, “decide what kind of a person you want to be. You can either “pay interest” or “collect” it. I always liked giving financial advice, even before I became a financial planner, so I guess you could say I “collected interest.” It pays off after a while.
CH: For me, it’s been “When one door closes, another one always opens. I’ve always found that to be true."