JAMIE (Jim, James) MEALUS:  

I moved to Slidell in 1972 from Lafayette, La. I was born and raised in Lafayette, a direct descendant of the Acadians. Moving to the Slidell/New Orleans area was a bit of a shock to me, the culture was different and it took me a while to fit in. I didn't really excel there, but made up for it later. I am thankful for the friends I did make there and keep in touch with a few of them. As you can see from my "Then" photo, I let my hair grow long in the summer. I was into rock and roll and a few other things, some good, some not so good. To my parent's chagrin, I was suspended from school three times, once made straight F's on my report card, and almost did not graduate. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about, it seemed like everything was just not a challenge to me. My homeroom teacher, Miss Stemple had a low opinion of me, probably rightly so, till one day, I told her, "watch this, I can make straight A's if I want to". I then made the honor roll much to her surprise and my Mother's too. I left Slidell in 1974 and joined the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. I wanted to be a doctor but all the chemistry was boring to me I preferred math and physics. I finished my tour of duty in 1977, and went to school at th...Expand for more