Each month, we highlight a new individual or couple who has made the decision to retire in Mississippi. This month's spotlight is on Gulf Coast newcomers, Ken and Cheryl Cardinal.

Despite having received five-and-a-half feet of water in their home courtesy of Hurricane Katrina, retirees Ken and Cheryl Cardinal are staying put. “So many of our families back home automatically thought we would be coming back the day after Katrina hit. But we thought, “Where do we go?. This is our home. We rebuilt and are back in it now and are loving it.” Cardinal said no matter where you live in the U. S. there are risks. “The North has snowstorms, Kansas has tornadoes, California and other states have earthquakes, mud slides and forest fires. No matter where you are, there are certain things that are a fact of life”.

One of the “facts of life” that the Cardinals find alluring about their new home is friendly people. “We came down purely for a winter vacation and fell in love with the people. We have never experienced such genuine hospitality from everyone.

What we found about the South is that people are genuine, down to earth. Here when you meet people you are likely to get a big hug, not a cold handshake. I tell people I am a Minnesotan by birth, and a Mississippian by choice.” Ken and Cheryl are Retiree Ambassadors for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Retiree Partnership. They see their role not to recruit but to inform.

“People are curious about the South and ask questions like how they are going to be accepted being considered a “Yankee” versus being a Southerner. We tell them our experience, what we encountered, and why we like it. I always tell them at the end, no matter where you go you will probably find happiness. We found it in Mississippi.”