The Charleston SC Area - What makes it so special?

We all live in or have lived in communities that we thought were special for some reason or another.  I have chosen to live in the Charleston area my entire life, most of those years in Mount Pleasant.  Blessed to be born her, I have in fact only lived in 4 homes in 45 years years of my 56...all within just a couple of blocks of each other.  I think perhaps that I am where I will be for the next 40 or so (I am optimistic) since there is absolutely no where else that I would rather be.  I watch the sun rise over Sullivans Island in a home  that is a block away from where I spent most of my time as a child, a home that I shared with 5 of my siblings, a home where my Mom died and where my Dad still lives as he changes with the progress of the dreaded Alzheimer's curse.  I live in a home just a couple of blocks away from the home that my late husband bought when I was only 22, the same home where I brought my girls home as babies and where my husband lost his life to Cancer.  I am grounded, rooted, and firmly planted here with no regrets and much excitement about what is to before me in this special place.  But that is all about the buildings...the brick and mortar...Communities are much more that. Communities are places where people seek and realize their hopes and dreams and where they take care of each other.  This week, we have the opportunity to help someone who has put smiles on more faces than I can count.  Tony the Peanut Man has lost his entire business which was not just a business but was instead a link between happiness, family, and iconic culture.  He needs us and this amazing community is responding in an amazing way to a need...a need represented by someone that we only know as "The Peanut Man" or by his first name Tony.  It is clear that although we have grown substantially over my lifetime here, we are still a very small place that responds unconditionally and unselfishly when the need arises.Perhaps that is the thing that makes this conglomeration of cities and towns that we call the Charleston community so special and I am truly blessed to be here!