How We Met

Hurston came from Century, Florida, and had a football scholarship to go to Southwest Mississippi Junior College and was a year ahead of me. Well, I was sitting out in front of the dorm, acting a fool – a friend offered me tobacco and I took a bite – and I saw this goodlookin’ guy standing there with his hand on his hip and asked who that was, and they said, ‘well, that’s Hurston Nichols,’ because that’s what they called him back then, but his name was Nicholas. And I just jumped up and ran inside, and he asked them, “what is wrong with that girl?”

And here we are, 62 years later, we’re 81 and 82! His birthday is April 3 and he’ll be 83 then, and I’ll turn 82 November 22. When we were married, Huston was 20 years and four months, and I was almost 19. And on our first anniversary, August 31, Allen was born, in Magnolia, Mississippi, where I was from. The same doctor that delivered me delivered him.

When I told my Dad we were getting married, he asked ‘who to?’! And when I said Hurston, he said ‘he’s just a boy’!