“I was nine or ten when we moved from Greenville to Gulfport, just in time for a hurricane. We boarded up the windows and headed for a safer location. I walked to the car with my little umbrella, and the wind swept me into the air like Mary Poppins. My brother grabbed me and pulled me down to earth. We were Baptists and felt like refugees staying in the Methodist church for shelter. Mama played the organ to help pass the time and give some joy while we were there.

Mama played the organ at every church we attended. We moved to Indianola, MS at the end of my fifth grade year—Mama played at our church for 40 years while Daddy sang in the choir. I would later follow in their footsteps.

I had great teenage years in Indianola. I was a cheerleader, sang in the chorus, and played basketball. We lived across the street from the high school. At that time everyone smoked, so my friends and I snuck home at lunch to smoke and talk on the back porch. My dad and I later made a deal to quit smoking.

I started dating Marvin in high school. I went to college at Mississippi College for Women and majored in music; Marvin played football at Ole Miss. He was an All-American offensive lineman in 1959 and was heavily recruited to play pro ball. Scouts from Texas, Baltimore, and Canada contacted me to get to him. I was a junior and promised my mother I would graduate college before we got married, but a lot was happening, and I was a nervous wreck.

I got the flu during exams in December and was so sick that they put me in the hospital. In the hospital bed, I told Mama the football scouts were calling me and offering to send me to my choice of music schools—and that I wanted to get married before Marvin went off to play. She got quiet and said, ‘I think pink would be a pretty color for a summer wedding’. I thought, ‘Thank you Lord’ and went to sleep.

Marvin chose the Dallas Texans with the new AFL league because it was closer to home than Baltimore, and I chose to go to the University of North Texas in Denton with its fabulous music school.

We married on July 3rd before Marvin reported to football camp on July 8th. After the wedding, I put on my going away suit with my hat, gloves, and corsage, and we drove away from Indianola in the shiny, white convertible Marvin had just bought. We were supposed to spend our wedding night in Lake Village, Arkansas on the way to Dallas.

Marvin got out of the car to check in. I looked in the office and saw him pull the desk clerk across the counter. The motel had given our room away. We started driving to find another room, but nothing was available on July 3. We drove almost all of the way back to Indianola before we found one room left at the Alamatt motel in Greenville. That is where we spent our wedding night.

We made it to Dallas and used Marvin’s football bonus to get settled. Those bonuses weren’t what they are today, and there was little left until the first paycheck after the games started. Marvin left for football camp in Roswell, New Mexico, and I started school and made friends with some of the football wives. We were getting together to watch the first game, so I had to get a new outfit. I bought a brown pantsuit with an aqua giraffe across the front.

I ran out of money buying that pantsuit and got hungry. I prayed on it, and my neighbor brought me a big pot of soup. I lived on that soup until Marvin got home. All I had left was a $2 bill that my uncle gave me years ago, and I saved that to buy gas to pick up Marvin at the airport. He got paid, and we survived.

Marvin played professional football for five years, then we moved to Greenwood. It was too late to get a job with the school, so I became a church choir director and taught children and youth.

We tried everything to get pregnant, but nothing worked until I found a doctor who was doing a study with the fertility drug Clomid. I became one of his guinea pigs. The first month, I got on my knees and prayed, ‘Lord don’t let me swallow this pill if it’s not the right thing to do’. The pill didn’t work. The second time he doubled the dosage, and I got pregnant with twins. Clomid is now one of the first drugs given to women with fertility issues. I was a case study and then watched it work for years for other women

We moved to Yazoo City in 1971, and I started working as music director at the First United Methodist Church. More than 50 years later, I still work with handbells, worship music, children’s choirs, and musicals. Music is emotional and lives in your heart. It’s an outlet and therapy that does so much for me.

Because of my daughters, I also got involved with the children and youth programs and chaperoned a lot of trips. I wanted to give young people a place where they were loved and could have fun. Everyone needs something they can move into and be a part of. I learned that looking from the outside, you can’t tell the problems someone has on the inside. The Lord keeps putting me in the right place, and I get to be in the lives of people of all ages.

Marvin died four years ago. I miss him and would love to have him back, but I can either be miserable or keep living. I want to be an example to my children and grandchildren that there will be hard times in life, but you don’t have to cave in. The Lord will give you the strength for anything. I have been blessed beyond measure and had good experiences everywhere I went. But the years go by so fast.”

Lettie

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I grew up in the Methodist Church in Yazoo City surrounded by the love of Mrs. Terrell. I was in her children’s musicals and can still sing “Down by the Creekbank”. She took our youth to Libertyland, the beach, and to Disney World a couple of times. She reminded me in our interview that they once accidentally left me at the Jackson Mall and had to go back and get me. Those were some lonely years when I felt lost and not accepted anywhere, but Mrs. Terrell always saw me and gave support, warmth, and encouragement that helped me through. It wasn’t just me—she loves everyone like this. After a few minutes around her, you walk away feeling better and thinking life is going to be okay. She is my example that one person radiating love can help others through dark times and make the world a little brighter.

Thank you Mrs. Lettie. I love you.

Lynn