Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

57 / 202

57 | |
feature
serving his country for about 12 years
in Germany, Korea and Georgia. He
left the military when Operation
Desert Storm in Iraq was about to get
underway.
Graddick joined the New York
City Police Department, launching
what would be a 20-year career as a
patrolman, a member of the Street
Narcotics Enforcement Unit and a
communications sergeant.
“We had a good team. Putting
safety first and knowing what
everyone was doing at all times was
key to making it work and keeping
everyone safe,” he said.
Graddick admitted that working
in Brooklyn’s housing developments
could be nerve-racking at times.
“We were standing on the roof
of a building once and thought
people were shooting fireworks,” he
recalled. “We quickly realized it wasn’t
fireworks and that they were actually
shooting live rounds in our direction.”
While that was certainly
frightening, nothing prepared
Graddick for his most harrowing
experience as a police officer.
“By far, 9/11 was the worst,” he
said. “You really have no idea just how
much devastation there was unless
you saw it up close.”
After retiring as a police sergeant,
Graddick and his wife decided to
move home to Mount Pleasant,
but he admitted he thought he was
moving back to a small town.
“I don’t miss New York, although
my wife does at times, but it’s
definitely different here than when I
was a kid,” he said. “I can remember
standing on Venning Road and
from there being able to see the
Cooper River Bridge. You had such
an unobstructed view, you could
actually see rain coming in, which my
cousins and I would try to outrun,”
he said with a laugh. “If you stand on
Venning Road now, you can’t see past
100 feet.”
Even though Mount Pleasant is
no longer the small hometown of his
youth, Graddick and his wife are here
to stay and are working on growing
their business, Graddick Photography.
“I became interested in
photography over 10 years ago after
taking some pictures at a party in
New York. The photos looked good
on the camera, but once I looked at
them on the computer, they weren’t
that good,” he commented.
So he signed up for school,
upgraded his equipment and what
started out as a hobby is now a strong
passion.
“We now work with a few local
event planners and are focusing
on my true love, which is family
portraits and fashion photography,”
he explained.
Graddick also earns extra money
by driving for Uber, which he called
“my boat fund.”
“My uncles used to take me out
fishing and crabbing during the
summers when I was here as a kid.
And I still love it today,” he said.
It may not be like before, but,
with many family members still living
here, Graddick said new memories
surely will be made.
725 Coleman Blvd. Ste. 116 Mt. Pleasant, SC
843.800.5330
X Locally owned multi-sport store
X High performance gear & apparel for swim,
bike and run
X 6ˆ`iœ }>ˆÌ >˜>ÞÈà >˜` à œi wÌ̈˜}Ã
X On-site Recovery Lab / Physical Therapy
X In-house Current Pool
X Swim Stroke Analysis
X Bike Maintenance and Fittings
A unique and complete retail experience.
YOUR SKY. YOUR LIMIT.
DON’T TRUST YOUR EYE CARE TO ANYONE BUT THE BEST!
Readers of local magazines and newspapers have
voted The Vision Center at Seaside Farms
the BEST year after year.
843.388.6200
1956 Long Grove Dr., Ste. 1, Mt. Pleasant, SC
‡ (\H ([DPV ‡ &RQWDFW /HQVHV
‡ (\HJODVVHV ‡ ,QMXULHV
‡ 6XQJODVVHV ‡ 'LVHDVH PDQDJHPHQW
Brad Bodkin, OD, MS, FAAO
Ellesse Boiwka, OD