Reporter’s note: I met Stephanie Daughtrey on May 17 at the 21st annual Peach Festival in Morven. She had for sale at her booth a handbag that reminded me of one I owned as a youth, one with wooden handles and a removable and reversible covering. It was so cute I knew I had to purchase it for my daughter — who, like her mother, entered this world with a passion for pocketbooks (and shoes, hats, and scarves). As I paid for my purchase, I took a moment to marvel at how cool it was to be raising a girl during a time when those fashions that were in style and coveted when I was her age are back on the shelves for yet another go-round. Yippee! It makes parenting a lot of fun because I truly understand her excitement. I was once just like her ... standing in the middle of a department store with a gotta have it look on my face. (If only she liked Hello Kitty. I think then our mother-daughter relationship would be perfect.) A recent visit to Stephanie’s house revealed that she has a similar relationship with her daughters. And if I liked her after just a brief meeting at the Peach Festival, I really liked her after hearing her story.

A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous. — Coco Chanel.

VALDOSTA — Stephanie O’Neal was 11 years old when she met Mark Daughtrey, the boy who lived down the road from her, the boy who would, a few years later, become her husband. Four years older, he enjoyed spending his free time after school, on weekends, and during summer breaks at her house with her family.

Stephanie and Mark slowly became friends.

“We grew up five houses away from each other,” she shared. “I remember that he would come over and hang out with me and my brother. Back then, there was not much else to do. Plus, there were no other kids around.”

Mark graduated from Valdosta High School in the spring of 1988. Three months later, Stephanie was a member of the freshmen class at his alma mater.

After turning 15 years old on Nov. 28, she let him take her out on a date.

“We dated all four of my high school years,” said the now 34-year-old. (A photograph of the couple at her prom hangs on the front of the refrigerator door in their Valdosta home.)

Stephanie graduated from Valdosta High School in 1992. On June 12, she and Mark married. Their first home was a tiny apartment just off of Melody Lane. They later purchased a house in Remerton.

As he had been doing since graduating from high school, Mark spent his days working for the Colson Printing Company. (He remains with the company 20-plus years later.) Stephanie decided to pursue a degree in accounting at Valdosta State College and secured employment with the former NationsBank as a teller and a consumer banker. After two years of schooling and nearly four years in banking, she gave it all up to stay at home with Megan, her’s and Mark’s first child, now 11. Amber, now 8, was born three years later.

“I just kind of lost interest in school,” she shared, “and stayed home with my girls for five and a half years. It was the best time of my life. I knew that I wanted to be a mother, and that time with my girls was priceless. They grow up so fast, and I did not want to miss a minute of it.”