The last parade for four generations of Weavers on the family porch

Marie Weaver and four generations of her children watched the Thanksgiving Day parade from the front porch of the family home, waving at young beauty queens in sports cars, ladies adorning brightly decorated floats, and a horseback rider who trotted across the yard to introduce himself as a long-lost cousin.

The Weavers laughed and called out to an elderly gentleman who danced old-school style down the street, jumping into the splits then struggling to his feet with the aid of a cane, deciding afterward to ride the rest of the parade route with the Sunshine Casket Company.

Weaver’s children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were all smiles as they watched the 39th annual parade roll by and recalled old stories, while ignoring the smell of mold that wafted from underneath the front door.

It was a reminder that the family home built 65 years ago on Ole Bellamy Drive was damaged beyond repair in the floods following Hurricane Matthew, and will have to be torn down.

This Thanksgiving will end the decades-long tradition of watching the parade from the old front porch, shaded by a cedar tree that was planted years ago by Weaver’s husband. This is the first Thanksgiving the family will not retire inside afterward to share a holiday feast.

“It ain’t the same,” said Nelisa Geathers, Weaver’s daughter. “It’s Thanksgiving, but it’s not like it ought to be. This is the first year we were ever split up like this.”

In addition to Weaver’s 11 children, she has 26 grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren who would crowd the yard, running from her house to Geathers’ trailer next door.

“This was the pillar of Thanksgiving,” added Marie’s grandson, Frankie Weaver.

Marie and several of her children and grandchildren spent nearly two weeks at the shelter in the James. R. Frazier Community Center. The first few days were to ride out the hurricane, then they returned days later during the mass evacuation of Bucksport as the Waccamaw River and Little Pee Dee River swamped the small community and their small family home.

The only items salvaged were some clothes, Marie’s pocketbook and her medication. Even her car was damaged beyond repair.

The water rose waist high and destroyed the foundation of the house, but not of the family. The house will be torn down, a new home will take its place.

Work will begin next week to clear the property, and family members are checking with church groups and others to weigh their options — can a new house be built with volunteers and the small allowance provided by FEMA, or will it be a trailer?

“I hope I can get in by Christmas, but I don’t know,” Marie Weaver said.

Despite their misfortune, Weaver and Geathers are counting their blessings this Thanksgiving that no one in the family was hurt.

“I ain’t been sad a minute,” Weaver said. “I just thank the Lord that everybody is living.”

“I thank Him for my family, I thank the Lord that when the flood come, we’re all still alive,” Weaver said. “We was able to get out, and I’m not worrying about nothing, because I put it all in God’s hands. He will work it out for me.”

Recalling the hurricane and resulting flood, Geathers said the large Oak tree crashing onto her trailer roof wasn’t nearly as frightening as the flood water quickly rising to her waist.

“It was scary,” Geathers said. “I’m thankful because all of us together, we alive. When they were telling us the storm was coming, if the water had gotten as high as they said, who knows what would have happened, it probably would have been a tragedy.”

“I could have lost my family, but I still have all my kids and grandkids, and that’s enough for me,” Geathers said. “I’m a true believer that when God takes something, it will come back better than what it was before. Whenever that day comes, I will be patiently waiting.”

When Bucksport celebrates its 40th annual Thanksgiving parade, Weaver predicts she will be sitting on her new front porch.

“Next year when they come by, won’t they be surprised to see a whole new house here?” she asked.

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "The last parade for four generations of Weavers on the family porch."