On June 16, 1957, George William Riley hoodwinked the lovely Lennie Grace South into slipping away somewhere in Northern Mississippi and getting hitched. No fancy wedding with bridesmaids, no church setting overflowing with flowers and no three tiered wedding cake. Even without all the bells and whistles, the love committment stuck and the milestone of 50 years together was celebrated with friends and family yesterday. It was neat to see each of their high school year books, early sweetheart pictures, and reminders of harder times. My parents weathered the storms of difficult economic times with my mom ironing clothes for additional money, and working at the high school as a secretary where she retired and dad farming with my grandpa, working on small engines part-time, and landing a job as a foreman in a copper tubing plant where he also retired. My sisters and I had a good life and mom and dad provided us with a great example of hard work, solid christian core values, and the importance of family. We never missed a meal, always went to school with clean clothes on our back and shoes on our feet, and attended church everytime the doors were open. I was very blessed and looking back I wouldn't change a thing about my upbringing. Happy 50th Anniversary Mom and Dad. You're the best.

A LONG TIME AGO, BACK IN THE 60'S, A FIESTY BUNDLE OF JOY CAME INTO THE WORLD TO THE DELIGHT OF HER WONDERFUL FOLKS, JOE BENNY AND JANE COOPER. ALTHOUGH HER DADDY DID HIS BEST TO MAKE A BAMA FAN OUT OF HER, SOMEHOW HER LOYALTY LEANED TO THE ORANGE AND BLUE OF THE AUBURN TIGERS. ONLY WITHIN THE LAST YEAR HAS THIS FAIRWEATHER FAN FLIP-FLOPPED EVEN AGAIN. HOG FANS, PLEASE HELP ME IN WELCOMING THE NEWEST ADDITION TO OUR SLOP BUCKET, MISS TERRI, A RECENT CONVERT TO OUR PIG PEN. DO I HEAR A HOG-A-LUJAH? IN THE FUTURE TP, I WOULD SUGGEST YOU NEVER BET AGAINST THE MIGHTY HOGS...SNORT, SNORT, SNORT...(YOU DO MAKE A CUTE MISS PIGGY) LET ME BE THE FIRST TO WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.