Call it a coincidence or even luck, but Laurel resident Jerry Orman calls it God’s divine plan.

What better explanation is there for a Vietnam War veteran from Mississippi, whose first name is Jerry, serving in Vietnam the same years of another Mississippi soldier with the first name of Jerry? How else would one explain how Orman would meet the sister of the now deceased Jerry Kitchens some 40 years later and ask her for her hand in marriage?

“I have been in 39 states and five countries,” said the 65-year-old veteran. “I lived in New Jersey four years before moving back to Mississippi. I never thought I would meet such a wonderful woman.”

Especially for Orman, whose first marriage ended in divorce and had vowed never to marry again. “It was a divorce that just left me bitter,” Orman confessed. “After that experience, I vowed that I would be by myself for the rest of my life. But then I met Linda Walters.”

One might say the couple’s meeting was arranged. Walter’s daughter, Melissa Page, worked at a business located across the street from Orman’s home. Page and Orman had become friends and she told him she would like to introduce him to her mother.

“She gave me her mother’s phone number and encouraged me to call her,” said Orman. “I told her I would and it took me a little while to get up the nerve to do it.”

It was April 1 when Orman got enough nerve to make the initial phone call. Needless to say, Walters thought someone was playing a joke on her when Orman called.

“I just took it as an April Fool’s joke,” said Walters. “He then explained that he knew my daughter and she had given him my number.”

Orman noted that he talked on the phone with Walters for “quite some time.” He found her easy to talk to and he decided that he would ask her out on a date.

Walters agreed to accompany Orman on a dinner date, and as Orman says, the rest is history. They have been dating ever since.

“After I met her, I knew she was a special woman,” said Orman. “She had such a calmness about her. She’s a person that doesn’t say anything bad about anybody. She always finds the good in people. She is loving and caring. She is just a good person.

“She is beautiful in more ways than one,” he added. “I take her flowers and roses at least three times a week. I am a gardener and I love to grow things. “

Walters said Orman makes her feel like a queen. She described him as a loving and caring man.

“He brings me flowers just about every day and I always write little notes to him,” said Walters. “I let him know how much I appreciate everything he does for me.

“I have never had anyone to treat me the way he does,” she added. “He is such a loving man. I thank the Lord for him every day. He shows he cares for me in so many special ways. That counts a lot in a relationship.”