Penning Photography Daily

This afternoon we took a tour via van with an 80+ year old lady of Charleston society (She went to school with Babs Bush who was a boarder at her school).

Mrs. Jane Thornhill lives in the old part of the city and knows absolutely every house and structure and it’s lineage, and who owned it or stayed there or when it was gutted by fire or hurricane.

She looked a bunch like my mother and talked 100 miles an hour (if any southerner can do that) but so you could understand.

She has stood in front of bulldozers so old structures could be preserved. That type of gumption is rare. She is a strong force for preserving the historic Charleston. She knows all the folks that make the city work.

She’s at home with the elite, and with us plain folk.

Jane took us to her wonderful home, showed us her china, silver, wedding photos of her mom and her and her kids, told us the stories behind all the precious items, and kept repeating “I didn’t have any idea how precious these things were then”

Her husband, who was much more typical 80 year old southern gentleman and running at 16 rpm, was at the Battle of the Bulge in WWII – I pipped up with dad being a field surgeon at the battle and that won us the tour of her home and a conversation with her husband, who stayed a year after the war – he was a field engineer and assisted in the re-building efforts.

Wow was she a whirlwind of knowledge. We are so grateful that she shared her time and knowledge of this elegant city with us.