Millie Wesson-Marky
Contributor
On Saturday, May 6, local life-long resident of Madison County, Bernice Bodenstein, thought she was just going to be taken out for an early birthday lunch with her niece and nephew-in-law, Millie Wesson-Marky and Bobby Marky, of Tallahassee. She was picked up from her home and blindfolded within just a few moments and driven to the beautiful property of her daughter and son-in-law, Debbie and Jimmy King. Upon arrival, you could have heard a pin drop and Bernice still had no clue what was going on. Bobby helped her exit the vehicle and led her up the steps to the King’s Mill Cabin building, which is absolutely beautiful. As she walked up the steps, took off her blindfold and entered the building, there was an extra-large crowd of all those who love her. The gathering was not only an early birthday party for her 86th birthday (on Wednesday, May 10) but also an extra special family reunion. Bernice’s parents were Harrison J. Guess & Mildred Walker-Guess. Mildred was the daughter of Norman and Bertie Walker of Pinetta. So, this was not only a surprise birthday party for Bernice but a Walker family reunion as well.
Bernice had been really wanting the family to have another reunion for the last four years or more, so her niece, Millie, got together with her daughters, Lynn Stewart and Debbie King, to make this special event happen. The gathering included many of Bernice’s close friends and numerous family members. Some of the family members hadn’t seen each other in over 30 years. Bernice’s brother, Harrison Guess, and his wife, Glenda, even made the eight-hour trip from Clayton, Ga. to join the celebration. She was also joined by Wally and Kathi Weaver, who were previous members of First Baptist Church years ago.
Family and friends enjoyed walking down memory lane with all the vintage family photos that were placed around the cabin. Some of these included Bernice during her years of serving the banking industry here in Madison during her 50+ year career.
The family would like to thank everyone who joined us for this special day and brought such amazing food for us to share together. Bernice will treasure this moment forever and so will the rest of her family and friends.