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Mississippi is...

. . . its people, who ask for nothing but a chance to succeed but are always ready to extend a helping hand. It’s Sunday lunch at Grandma’s, blues and bluegrass, the snowy white cotton fields, the waving rows of corn. It’s summer revivals, football Friday nights, winter nights around a roaring fire at a fabulous state park. Most of all, Mississippi is a feeling deep inside your soul that always calls you home to Mississippi.

— Chuck Ivey, Wesson

When my parents and I would pull up into the beautiful “oak grove” yard of my dear grandparents’ country home in Eupora, at 2 years old I would jump out of the car and run to the old barn where “Annie,” my Granddaddy’s plow mule, was waiting for me. I must have known, even then, I someday wanted to live in Mississippi. After years of hugs freely given on Granny and Granddaddy’s front porch swing, God blessed me and my little family with our own piece of Mississippi soil. And yes, with an “oak grove,” front porch swing and the wonderful opportunity of just breathing Mississippi air!

— Patricia Kress, Olive Branch