EDITOR’S NOTE: Marion Weaver, owner of the Brooks Street Exchange, and her mother, Mellie Lee, are two of nearly 100 local businesswomen who will be recognized Sept. 23 during Main Street Manning’s annual meeting. The Manning Times will be featuring a few of these women each week throughout September in The Manning Times, and posting stories daily on manninglive.com
Marion Weaver has always seen God’s hand in her life.
She knows He has always had a plan for her, though she admits it hasn’t always been close to what she would have imagined.
As owner of Brooks Street Exchange, Weaver says she is now in the second chapter of her life. A former teacher at Laurence Manning Academy – her alma mater – Weaver’s first chapter included watching her late husband, Mark, struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
She and Mark were married in 1990, shortly after she began teaching and after she opened her predecessor store, The Keitt Street Exchange, with Tilly Lee. She had worked in retail while studying early childhood education at Coastal Carolina University.
She couldn’t decide which career path she wanted to take.
“I assumed that time would allow me to make the choice between the two,” Weaver said. “As fate would have it, Mark was diagnosed with ALS on New Year’s Eve of 1997. Although our plans for our future was shattered, and the diagnosis was devastating, our journey was just beginning.”
Marion and Mark were told they had up to five years together, by which time Mark would lose all motor skills, including the ability to speak.
“Mark lived with it for 15 years,” Marion said. “This disease left his mind completely unaffected. I dove into my role as caregiver, with every bit of strength I had.”
Marion said she found her husband’s attitude during his struggle inspiring.
“Many times I would tell him I was so sorry for his suffering, to which he would respond, ‘I’m fine. I only have a few minor inconveniences,’” Marion said. “Never a day did he feel any self-pity. He was an inspiration to not only me, but countless other people.”
A BUSINESS BY ANY OTHER NAME
The Keitt Strett Exchange – as it was known in the early 1990s – was initially only open on the weekends while Lee and Marion worked their “day jobs.” Marion taught third grade and first grade for two years each, and then found her niche when she began teaching kindergarten.
As Lee’s family began to grow, Marion brought in her mother to help with the business.
“About the time that we grew out of our location on Keitt Street, Miss Polly Sankus and Miss Pansy Ridgeway decided to retire, opening that storefront on Brooks Street,” Weaver said. “When we moved, we extended our business by adding some gift items.”
With her mother helping at the store, Marion continued to focus on her husband’s care. Ultimately, she said she’s taken away “something very happy and positive” from the ordeal.
“The way our family, friends and community surrounded us with love and support was a gift,” she said. “I was able to see not only people that knew and loved me want to give me support, but jut people in the community. Fifteen years is a long time, but the cards, letters, prayers, hugs, monetary donations, smiles, golf tournaments, gift cards and care packages were always there. Each one of those acts of kindness meant the world to me.”
Now, Marion is retired from teaching. It’s allowed her to focus more on her business.
“The greatest part is that I am able to spend time there with my mother, Mellie Lee,” she said. “She has to keep me straight on the day-to-day routines of running the shop. I still have trouble with the credit card machine. She has been the face of the shop for all these years, and I have been behind the scenes.”
Marion approaches her life now using that inspiration she gained from her late husband.
“I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed me this second chapter in my life,” Weaver said. “I have not one regret for the first chapter. But knowing that Mark is no longer suffering has given me renewed hope for my future. All of those experiences have made me in to the person that I am now. I know each day is a gift from God.”
