Jackson Free Press

A menacing polar bear stalks two 5-year-old girls, doggedly chasing them through the backyard. The polar bear's name is King, Ouida Couch's 85-pound white German Shepherd, and this is their favorite game. Ouida is indomitable, delighting in the frolicsome chase. I'm the cowardly candy-ass shrieking atop the picnic table. Ouida and I are cracking ourselves up as we reminisce. We sit in her Belhaven home of 10 years with her wooly-headed American Eskimo, Mogi (with whom she plays a grown-up version of "polar bear") and Mogi's black cat, Mustang.

Ouida grew up on 14 acres of land off Pear Orchard Road, now know as Northpoint V, which her parents purchased in 1972. Ouida harvested the hen's eggs, fed Arnold the pig and built forts, huts and tree houses on those idyllic acres.

Her beloved father, Bob Branum, suffered his first heart attack when she was 5. She knew even then his condition was terminal, but remained at peace through her fervent faith. When asked about her infamous grandfather, former Gov. Ross Barnett, she quickly says, "Let's not exploit that. Yes, it has shaped me. There are many blessings and many hardships that come with that distinction. It has taught me to seek out the good in people. I loved my grandfather, but I am not defined by him."

Ouida graduated from Ole Miss in 1989 and quickly married high school sweetheart John Couch. Two years later, John became a textbook case for untreatable Hodgkin's disease, laughing at our jokes as chemotherapy coursed through his veins. Ouida was there—strong, solid, fearless. "I am who I am for the experiences I went through with him," she says quietly.

Through it all, Ouida has remained a deeply spiritual, serene, laughing woman. Although she lost John, she's taught me that "loving people will always love," as demonstrated by devotion to long-time inamorato, John Lawrence. A faithful volunteer for Stewpot functions and award-winning float-builder for the St. Paddy's Parade, Ouida loves her hometown. She's taught English to immigrants, cooks for juvenile delinquents and consistently hits a punishing serve on her tennis team, "the volley girls." "I'm enjoying my second happy childhood, only this time I have to pay rent, " she says.

Currently the statewide data coordinator for DREAM, a non-profit organization for drug and alcohol prevention, Ouida collects information about student attitudes and experiences with drugs, alcohol and school safety. She wants teens to know that "every day is a gift, so don't waste it. Better to say 'I wish I wouldn't have,' rather than 'I wish I had.' "