faith! - Regina Hitchcock

For the past six years, Regina Hitchcock has been running what she affectionately refers to as “Hitchcock Inc.”

That’s the job she assumed when she stepped back from her full-time work as a lobbyist in government affairs and began staying home, running her family’s busy life. She had never expected to make such a move, but she and her husband Mike decided when their youngest child, Charlotte, had a bit of a rough start due to health issues, their fast-paced, two-career family had to make a change.

“We joke sometimes that God puts obstacles right in front of you, and says, ‘OK, get around it.’” Today Regina considers herself incredibly fortunate to have been able to make the change to stay home with Charlotte, now eight, and Christian, 11.

At the beginning of 2020, Regina had thought she would begin looking to get back to the government affairs work she loves, but then COVID took the world by surprise and shut everything down.

“I remember being very grateful that I was home. Mike was upstairs in our playroom-turned-office and I could help the kids with school,” Regina recalled. “Had I just been hired, I probably would have been laid off.”

Instead, she was able to keep the children on track with online learning, and allow Mike the relief of knowing things were OK when he was forced to move to Zoom meetings as CEO of the state’s Retirement Investment Commission. The worries of ensuring that the state beneficiaries’ investments remained solid during such an uncertain time were overwhelming at times, but, fortunately, Mike had a few years under his belt that had involved getting a strong team in place. All was well. Intense, but well.

“In comparison to what a lot of families were going through, my being home and Mike working upstairs made our life a little less stressful,” she said. “I will never complain about that.”

Regina remembers thinking as the shutdown began that the shift would probably last only a few weeks. When the lockdown lingered, Regina began to keep a journal.

“Theoretically this is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” she remembered thinking. She wanted to be sure she documented it for their family.

Among the entries she made early on: “Is the glass half empty or half full? It matters not. Find the pitcher.” And “The only way to endure the quake? Adjust your stance.”  

“These served as great directives to keep pivoting! Things could’ve been much worse,” Regina said. “We were enjoying a gorgeous spring and remained healthy.” 

The exceptional spring weather was especially noticeable. Regina recalled thinking one day about how the busyness of their lives – especially when she and Mike both used to travel for work – had often short-circuited their ability to take in the season that is one of South Carolina’s best.

Their family took walks in the neighborhood, and spent huge amounts of time on their porch, where the children’s new favorite ritual was eating breakfast together as a foursome every morning. On more than one occasion she remembers thinking, “Since God sent us all to our room, we were able to enjoy things you never slow down to enjoy.”

During that slow down, Regina and Mike intentionally kept the family’s daily routines, and told the children Sundays might be a little different, but that they would still be going to church – just on their couch, and in their pajamas.

“We’d set up the iPad on the ottoman,” she said. “We made it a priority. It was so great to have our coffee, and our dog piled on the couch with us. It just became a habit.”

Regina particularly appreciated how the chat feature of the livestreamed worship service allowed her to connect with parishioners. A text thread she developed with several members with whom she has become close friends also provided solace.

As a new vestry member – Regina was elected last fall – she developed a deep admiration for the pivot the church was able to make when in-person services had to stop. “It was amazing what the church was able to do,” she said.

As things began to open up a bit, Regina embraced the outdoor services, especially the 5 p.m. service. “I loved, loved, loved it,” she said, adding that she used the service as an opportunity to instill in Christian a lesson that her father taught her as part of her Catholic upbringing. That lesson was that each member of a church helps keep the church going. “There are a lot of ducks paddling away beneath the surface and I wanted Christian to see that.” They would help put away chairs, prayer books and audio equipment after the service. “You get to see behind the scenes, that this doesn’t just happen.”

Regina and Mike share a special gratitude for St. Martin’s. They joined in 2015 after a serious search for a parish that felt like home. “Having a church that we feel like is truly our home church and a place our children will remember … it was very anchoring,” she said. “When you hit a year like last year, you just count your blessings and St. Martin’s was one of them for us.”

 Regina Hitchcock and her husband, Mike, and their children Christian and Charlotte joined St. Martin’s in 2015.