RIGHT TIME RIGHT PLACE: He shared his heart with her, but not his Skittles

James and Kim Wilson were married on Nov. 24, 2001. They were in the gifted and talented program at Pulaski Heights Junior High in Little Rock. “I knew when I met her that she was a sweet girl, that she was a wholesome girl,” he says. “But I didn’t know it was going to end up like this. We just take things one day at a time.”
James and Kim Wilson were married on Nov. 24, 2001. They were in the gifted and talented program at Pulaski Heights Junior High in Little Rock. “I knew when I met her that she was a sweet girl, that she was a wholesome girl,” he says. “But I didn’t know it was going to end up like this. We just take things one day at a time.”

James Wilson thought Kim Perry was sweet, but not sweet enough for him to hand over his candy.

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Special to the Democrat-Gazette

James Wilson didn’t really want to share his Skittles with Kim Perry back in junior high school. Today, however, he couldn’t be happier to share his life with her. Kim feels the same about him. “I wish our story was more glamorous, but I wouldn’t change being with James,” she says.

"Back in those days, you only got maybe $1 for lunch, and in school you didn't want to go buy lunch. You wanted to be all cool like the other kids and go buy Skittles and chips and things like that," says James, who was an eighth-grader at Pulaski Heights Junior High in Little Rock in 1991 when he met Kim. "That's all I had to eat."

The first time I saw my future spouse:

She says: “I thought that he and his friends were jokesters. He and his friends were always laughing and having fun and doing what boys do.”

He says: “I knew that she was going to be something special. She was smart and intelligent and I knew she was going to be something great.”

On our wedding day:

She says: “I was emotional. I cried.”

He says: “I felt proud.”

My advice for a lasting marriage is:

She says: “Communication is key. You have to communicate, even about the tough stuff.”

He says: “Take one day at a time.”

James doesn't remember anyone else asking for his candy, though Kim made repeated requests. She asked him again in English class one day and he fibbed, telling her he didn't have any.

"I liked her and everything, but I was hungry. I was like, 'I'm going to eat these Skittles,'" James says.

When Kim looked away, he crammed all the Skittles into his mouth at one time -- and he got caught. His teacher noticed his bulging cheeks and ordered him to spit the Skittles into the trash can in the front of the class.

"I just shook my head," Kim says.

She wasn't flirting, at least not consciously. "I just wanted something sweet after lunch," she says.

James was at once irritated and intrigued by her. "She was one of those 'good girls,'" he says. "You never heard about her dating guys. She was just friends with everybody. She was just this friendly, outgoing, bubbly person. And I didn't really hear her ask anyone else for their candy -- just me."

Kim was a cheerleader and James played football, so they ran in the same circles.

Sometime during ninth grade, James asked a mutual friend to call Kim from a pay phone near the school, and then he took the phone.

"I talked to her and asked for her number and that's how I got her number," James says.

They began having hours-long phone conversations in the evenings.

"That's how we got to know each other, by talking on the phone," he says. "We couldn't see each other, really, outside of school. You know, we were too young to drive or anything."

They walked with friends to Burger King after practice sometimes, and one of those occasions marked a milestone.

"We sat together that day," he says. "That was like the first time we sat together as a couple."

Not long after that there was the homecoming dance. He rode a city bus to campus to attend with Kim.

"We kissed for the first time at that dance, and we've been together ever since," he says.

They went to different high schools -- he to Joe T. Robinson and she to Central -- but they found ways to see each other, catching rides to the mall so they could hang out or watch movies. Soon, James had a car, and he picked Kim up for their first real date, to Ruby Tuesday's in Park Plaza.

After high school graduation in 1996, James got a job as a cadet with the Little Rock Police Department. Kim started classes at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

In summer 1999, James made spaghetti for Kim and after dinner he asked her to marry him.

"It was a quiet proposal -- it was just the two of us," he says. "We didn't want to make a fuss. We were young and didn't have much money."

Their daughter, Taylor, now 18, was with them when they exchanged vows on Nov. 24, 2001, in the gazebo at the base of the Main Street Bridge in North Little Rock. The Wilsons live in Bryant and have a second daughter, Morgan, 10.

Kim transferred from UALR to the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration. She does the billing for a Little Rock law firm. James worked in law enforcement and then corporate loss and prevention for several years before deciding to make a career change. He went to Panola College in Carthage, Texas, to train as an occupational therapy assistant. He has been working in that field for about two years.

Kim and their daughters stayed in Arkansas while he was in Texas, and he only made it home every three weeks or so during the 2 1/2 years he worked on his degree.

"I'm just glad I had Kim on my team. I don't know how we made it through, but we did," he says.

He's even glad she tried to take his candy in eighth grade.

"We don't really think about how long we've been together. We just take things one day at a time and we look up and it's been 20 years," he says. "We've just always been staples in each other's lives."

If you have an interesting how-we-met story or if you know someone who does, please call (501) 425-7228 or email:

kdishongh@sbcglobal.net

High Profile on 01/29/2017

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