My home has always been in North Mississippi except for the thirteen years that my husband and I lived in Memphis, Tennessee when we were first married. After graduation from a Tate County, Mississippi high school, moving to Memphis and finding work was the expected progression for a new life. The race was on to see which member of our class could progress the fastest and prosper the most. Our parents expected all of us to give them bragging rights back home.

In Memphis, providence placed me in a property management firm downtown. The mission for the company was to manage a vast amount of rental property for Memphis investors. My duties were to answer the phone, collect rents, learn the bookkeeping system, and render monthly statements.

Only one residential real estate salesperson worked in my office. Her name was 'Miss Lucy'. Miss Lucy came to the office about 3 days each week. When Miss Lucy stepped off the elevator, it meant that a storm had arrived. The phone would begin ringing. Half of the people in Memphis would be returning her calls. All phone lines became hers. She would borrow my posting pens (never to return them). She was always under pressure and in a hurry. The Memphis real estate market was hers and she knew how to move it. She was in such demand. She in turn put us in her demand.

I did not want to be like Miss Lucy. I loved getting those figures in the right column and getting them balanced. I enjoyed my job so much. I wanted to become an accountant. I started attending Memphis State University during nights and weekends. Never did I think that I would become a 'Miss Lucy'.

When my husband received a job transfer to Columbus, Mississippi, I thought my life had ended. I had graduated from small town living, I thought. After arriving here and finding a home with four acres of land, we started venturing out into church. Before we knew what was happening we were meeting and entertaining people in our home from everywhere. Columbus Air Force Base people were from all the states in the Union. Student pilots were seen everywhere. We loved their youth and vitality. The civic clubs that I joined introduced me to people who worked at United Technologies, Inc., General Tire Company (now Omonova Solutions, Inc), Airline Manufacturing Company, Bryan Foods, Inc. Weyerhaeuser Paper Company, Mississippi University for Women, and so many other businesses. Pretty soon, I was feeling that I was an international traveler. This was the biggest small town in the USA. To make a long story short, we loved it here.

My next job was with the Social Security Administration. This office serviced constituents in ten counties via phone and at contact stations. My listening skills were fined tuned. I could recognize people over the phone by voice easier than I could call their names by face. Money could not buy the training that I received there: listening skills, communication skills, interviewing skills including body language interpretation, and-on and on. I was privileged to help people in all walks of life and all circumstances. I thought that I had arrived.

When our only daughter at that time was a sophomore at the University of Mississippi, I became acutely ill everyday. My doctor was having difficulty diagnosing my illness. I kept getting very nauseous at work. I was so perplexed.
Finally my supervisor suggested that I go for the rabbit test at the pathology lab. In no time, the test revealed that I was expecting my second child who would arrive twenty-one years and four months later than my first daughter had been borne. I thought that this would be a career ending experience as I felt that I needed to be a stay at home mom with this child.

As it turned out, Leslie did not like being lonely any better than I. A few days in daycare while I attended my mother in the hospital convinced both of us that I needed to be back at work, and she needed to be playing with other children. By then I had become very interested in metes and bounds, plats, and surveys. I was researching my neighbor's property that joined our irregular shaped four acres. I began to spend time in the vault library at the courthouse. I was fascinated with all the records, abstracts, aerial maps, etc. I learned to locate properties by township and range. Miss Lucy came to my mind more and more, remembering the many experiences that I had with her and her clients as well as observing her as she marketed our own home when we were moving back to Mississippi. I went back to college, this time taking real estate classes. In no time, I had become a licensed Realtor. Miss Lucy had cast her spell on me!!!!

Now, I know that God was preparing me for what would come next. My husband was killed in an automobile accident, Thanksgiving Eve of 1993, when we were traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving with our oldest daughter, Leigh Ann and her husband Earl who lived in Southaven Mississippi. Leslie, my second child, and I were now in Columbus alone. My work intensified. Real Estate sales would become my passion. My statistics increased every year working at both the CENTURY 21 office and RE/MAX. Leslie has now grown up and presently lives in Oceanside, California.

In December 2001, Gilbert (Buster) Sanders and I married. He shares my interest in real estate. He loves meeting my clients and gives his service whenever he can. He was forceful in insisting that I become an independent broker. REALTY SERVICES, INC came into being in August 2002. We have equipped my office with the latest technological equipment. I am a certified Buyer's Representative. I stay informed about all sales activities in this area and have access to all historical sales records for effective pricing and market analysis for all residential sales in this market. I have Mississippi and Alabama Broker's License and can list and sell properties in both states.

My office is in the Historic District of downtown Columbus. I have tried to create a tranquil and confidential place for my clients to make informed decisions about their real estate business. Many exciting things are taking place here in the downtown area. Our new congressman, Roger Wicker, has announced that he will be locating an office in the Historic District soon. In the Columbus area, we have the new Eurocopter Manufacturing Company moving here. We presently have two new power generating plants being built to generate electricity for far and near markets. The Mississippi University for Women has just named a new dynamic President. I invite you to check out the many links that I have gathered for your review. I look forward to receiving your email inquiries and phone calls. I want you to become a member of my real estate family. May I serve you for all your real estate matters whether you are interested in buying or selling?