re: How did your parents meet?

My parents met while working at Winn-Dixie as teenagers in 1977.

I was in 1st grade and she was in 3rd....
—oh yeah! Moving up

quote:

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I think I remember them talking about him. He had hair length rules for guys? I thought that was great.

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Yep, he ran a tight ship. He also measured girls’ dresses. He’d send kids home for a haircut and to change clothes. He wasn’t shy about using the paddle either. He was a hardass, for sure.

I’ve talked to dozens of people who hated him when they were in school there but when they grew up and had kids they wish they could have that back.

You couldn’t get away with how he ran things today.

Sounds like the kind of principal teens need.

My dad was discharged from the Marine Corps after WWII. He had volunteered and went back to the BOE to get his diploma and due to volunteering had had finish his senior year to allow him to go to school on the GI Bill.
Graduated HS and was going to hitch hike to either Tulane or Howard College (now Samford). First car to stop was heading to Birmingham so it it was Howard College.
Dad joined a fraternity and there were several fraternity brothers standing outside the Freshman Girls dorm and when my mom walked up the steps and the first guy asked if she was married. The answer was no, and the next asked if she was engaged. It was no, and the next asked if she was pinned. It was no, and my dad asked if she would go on a date and she said yes! They were married next semester and they raised 4 kids and were married for 24 years before she died. Dad got his commission in the Army and retired after 20 years. Dad married 2 more times but when he died he requested to be married with my mom at Arlington National in 2008. I was able to make his wishes happen!

They went to the same little private school outside of Jackson, MS. My dad was a year older than my mom and the night my mom graduated, they had an after party at The Dock on the reservoir in Ridgeland. My dad had some friends who had just graduated so he decided to go that night as well. Somehow managed to get my moms number and called her the next week to go to Swensen's for a date.

Lived in the same neighborhood.

In high school. They did each other's homework. Dad did math and science. Mom did English, history, and French. They recently celebrated 61 years of marriage.

Sigma Chi party

Bro, both are deceased and that was so long ago, I don't remember details of the story - but Dad worked for a family gas station and Mom lived close by.