Margaret Jennings

Margaret Norman was born on January 10, 1952, in Omaha, Nebraska. Her parents were killed in an automobile accident when Margaret was eight years old, and she went to live with her mother's sister and her husband, John and Wanda Simmons, in Oxford, Mississippi. The Simmonses didn't have any children, and they took Margaret in as their own.

Margaret's Aunt Wanda and Uncle John were very good to her and helped her deal with the loss of her mom and dad. The insurance money from her parents' death was put into a trust fund for her, and she used that money to attend college.

While she was in college, she met Brad Jennings. He asked her out multiple times before she agreed to go on a date with him. They dated casually for several months, and eventually, Margaret succumbed to his charms and fell in love. Brad, who'd been smitten with her from the start, was thrilled. They got engaged and were married during their senior year.

In time, the couple had two children, Victor and Raymond. Margaret and Brad had an almost perfect life, except that Brad was often so absorbed with work and spending time with their older son, Victor, that he didn't have much time left for Margaret.

She found ways to keep herself entertained. She enjoyed gardening and making their yard beautiful. She took gourmet cooking classes. She went to lectures and symposiums at the university. She also belonged to the Oxford Country Club and had many friends.

After she gave birth to their second child, Raymond, she was often too busy to pursue her other interests. Brad never had any time for their younger son, essentially making Margaret solely responsible for raising Raymond. That didn't leave Margaret much time to spend with Victor, but he had the constant attention of his father.

Victor was a challenging child and an even more difficult teenager, and Margaret confided in friends that she was secretly a little relieved that Brad took care of dealing with him. On the other hand, Raymond was much less assertive than his brother, and Brad had no patience for Raymond's more timid nature. Margaret adored her younger son, and the two of them were always as thick as thieves.

Once the child-rearing duties had been divided, the Jennings family became somewhat divided too. Margaret and Brad weren't as close as they had been in the early part of their marriage, and their sons never seemed to take to each other. Even after Victor and Raymond moved out on their own, Margaret and Brad's relationship never returned to the closeness of their first years together.