Longtime Shoaler Edith Kates recently turned 90 years old. As an attendee of the Life on a Star Family Conferences, Edith gave a lot to Star Island including the golf cart to help people better navigate the island’s rocky terrain. Affectionately referred to as the “Vic Mobile” after her husband Victor, with whom she co-chaired Life on a Star 1 in 1987, this vehicle remains important for many people to access such meaningful places on island like the chapel.
Edith now remembers Star through her children’s and grandchildren’s experiences. After listening to Betsy Kates, her daughter, tell her what happened this summer she wrote this poem:
Thoughts of an Old Shoaler
Our last day on Star Island, let us
Cherish every minute and
Bid farewell to each dear spot and
The pleasures found within it.
The chapel and the art barn
And Mrs. Moody’s cave
Every rock, too, can smooth my heart
As I greet each rolling wave.
Oh, the friendships formed in one
Short week.
Replenished year on year.
How warm the hugs, how deep the joys
As we join the welcome cheer.
Though now my children follow me
While I’m not there to share
Too many rocks, too many steps
From rook to rocking chair.
I will go back, I must go back
Unlikely though it seems
I have been back, I do go back
If only in my dreams.