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This is not "news," per se, but really fun. I stumbled across an old story from an online Florida newspaper. It made me smile, because my own Army family is astonished with how we run into Fort Hunters all over the globe. Looks like the two women alumni in the linked story here had the ultimate Fort Hunt connection. Click "Read more" to read the story of "2 Pams, 2 kids and a wedding."
2 Pams, 2 kids and a wedding
By TERRY DICKSON
September 12, 2007
The Florida Times-Union BRUNSWICK - It was a throwaway line between good friends, both of them Pams.
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Pam Hiebert's family moved from West Virginia in 1968 to Stratford Landing in Alexandria, Va. Pam Wood was already there and they became best friends at Fort Hunt High School. Pam Wood taught Pam Hiebert to twirl a baton and they were both majorettes in the marching band. Then they marched off to college in different states, got married and moved all over the place.
Pam Wood was home in Brunswick with her 6-month-old boy, Nathan, when Pam Hiebert called from Baltimore.
"Pammy, I've got a girl," she said. We know how those conversations go. Cutest little thing. We named her Erin. She weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. Guys talk like that, too. About redfish and trout.
But at some point in the conversation Pam Wood said, "I've got a boy. You've got a girl. Let's have an arranged marriage. We know what kind of parents we are. We'll raise good kids."
At least that's the way the Pams remember that throwaway line.
"One of us said it. We decided to attribute it to her," Pam Hiebert said.
They laughed it up a little then, but the subject didn't come up again as the Pams kept in contact over the years.
Erin and Nate - as they now call him - were never on the same path. Back when the kids were around 14, the families got together. The Woods were living in Brunswick, the Hieberts in Birmingham. Nate and Erin didn't exactly hit it off. They sat on opposite ends of the sofa with their arms folded and expressions that said, "Don't talk to me." She wore Dr. Martens, those clunky, unisex shoes and possibly some jeans that were scruffy from the factory. Nate had on his preppy private school polo shirt and khaki pants. He played soccer at Frederica Academy on St. Simons Island. She was a high school state champion runner in Birmingham.
"They were in their own little worlds," Pam Wood said.
But their worlds got bigger. He went to the University of Georgia. She went to the University of Alabama-Birmingham. By her mother's description, Erin was more of an "arty type" who wrote poetry. Nate got himself a marketing degree.
He could have made a living in Glynn County, but Nate loves to surf and unless there's a Category 4 hurricane 20 miles offshore, St. Simons has rotten surf. So Nate went off to San Diego to work in commercial real estate and to surf.
Erin went to San Diego about five years ago on business, Pam Hiebert said. The two Pams, still in touch as always, suggested she look up Nate. He would show her around, they figured.
"She fell in love with the city," Pam Hiebert said. "She decided that's where she wanted to live."
Which is pretty handy because she also fell in love with Nate. And both their expressions changed to "Talk to me."
So there they were last week, Pam Wood from Brunswick and Pam Hiebert from Lexington, S.C., browsing around The Home Depot looking to buy some greenery for their children's rehearsal dinner, small wedding and reception.
And when Erin walked down the aisle at Lovely Lane Chapel on St. Simons, she wore a necklace that was an heirloom from the family of her mother's best friend and her soon-to-be mother-in-law.
"To look across the aisle and see my best friend from high school as the mother of bride," Pam Wood said.
You can't arrange stuff like that. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091207/dic_198795636.shtml
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