GATOR STORY

Yesterday my cousin Jane asked me to remind her of the Gator connection, so I decided to talk about that today. I was sure I had mentioned it before but I can’t find the original in any of my files. So here goes with the Gator story.

The genius and I married in 1960 and after nine months, we trekked off to Fort Sill, OK, so that he could fulfill his obligation to Uncle Sam and serve his time as a Lieutenant in the U. S. Army. While we were there, he decided he wanted to continue his education after he finished out his two years. So he applied to several universities. The one that came up with the best offer was the University of Florida. So in August of 1963 we took off for that great campus with one child in a car seat and another still in the nest waiting to be born.

At first because we couldn’t get on-campus housing, we lived in a little two bedroom clapboard house right on the main highway. We were soon accepted, however, into the married student housing, an apartment I would put into the category of a government housing project, if that good. For this hovel we paid $25.00/month so we really couldn’t complain. On the $200/month salary the genius received $25.00 looked pretty good.

But let’s face it, the place was wretched. It was a two story building that had been converted from old Army barracks into eight tiny roach-infested apartments. But the good (?) news was that everyone else around us was in the same boat. And we made some good friends while we were there.

We also became interested in Gator sports, particularly football. There was this spectacular quarterback at the time racking up all kinds of points for the team and he was fun to watch. The year after we left he was named the Heisman Trophy winner. I’m talking about everyone’s favorite coach, Steve Spurrier. We became big fans of his both as a player and later as a coach. Whatever you say about him, he put the Gators on the map of college football.

So that is a part of the story of our U of F history. We are still Vanderbilt fans also, but we’ve been let down so many times rooting for them that we usually just stick with the Gators. And over the years we haven’t often been disappointed.

EXCEPT WHEN THEY LOST TO OLE MISS A FEW WEEKS AGO!!