BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times
DEMARCUS ‘MARC’ AND TIFFANY BROWN
Live: Pinson
Married: Feb. 10, 1996
Met: September 1993, at Troy University. They were both members of the gospel choir and met during rehearsal the day Marc joined.
“I was in the tenor section and she was leading the song we were rehearsing, and I thought she was cute. We didn’t actually talk to each other until we were getting ready for the African Alliance Fashion Show [on campus] and we were both modeling in the show… and during a break, she was standing at the water fountain and I went over and introduced myself, I said ‘Hi, my name is Marc’, and she said ‘I know who you are’, and I thought that was a good thing, I was smiling and then she wiped the smile off my face,” Marc laughed.
Marc was in the choir and on the football team, and Tiffany let him know where she stood with football players when he offered to take her out.
“She said ‘I don’t date football players’, and I wasn’t used to that. I was used to girls’ hearts going pity pat because I said I played football and it didn’t work,” he said.
Marc asked Tiffany out three times and got the same answer each time. However, Tiffany realized her prejudice against football players stemmed from a previous experience, and once she allowed herself to view Marc as an individual she admitted she was attracted to him.
“…one night in rehearsal I looked over at him and I said to myself, ‘Oh, he is kinda cute’…,” Tiffany recalled.
The two shared a mutual friend who told Marc that Tiffany’s stance on him had softened, giving him the confidence to reapproach a fourth time. This time she said yes.
First date: Spring 1994, at Shoney’s in south Alabama near their college campus. “I agreed to go out with him, and he was late for the date. He wasn’t even in town [south Alabama, near Troy University] at the time we were supposed to go out,” Tiffany said.
“I was doing some work for my dad (he’s blind) and he had me hemmed up all day,” Marc said. “So on my way back to campus I stopped and got some flowers and pulled up at her dorm just as she was getting in the car with one of her friends and pulled in back the car to stop them from backing out. I hopped out and said ‘Look, I know I’m late, I’ve been helping my dad out all day, but please take these flowers before you go and call me when you get back. And she got out of the car, and said no that’s ok, we can still go out.”
“Dinner was good, we hit it off and it set the foundation for our relationship,” Tiffany said. “We have a great friendship and that’s been the glue that has kept us together for 30 years.”
The turn: The pair said they fast-tracked to commitment. “We went on that first date and it took off from there. Neither of us was dating anyone else and we became boyfriend and girlfriend quickly,” Tiffany said.
“I called one of my best friends who I consider my brother, and said ‘Dude, she’s the one’, and he said ‘Really, why her?’ And I said it’s weird because she fuss at me like my mama because she is concerned about my well-being and not superficial stuff,” Marc said. “By fall 1994 I knew the trajectory of our future; I knew she was gonna be my wife.”
The proposal: Valentine’s Day 1995, at Troy University inside Tiffany’s dorm room. “Her roommate helped me set everything up. One of her other friends went with me and picked out the ring, and I bought a sweater too [as a gag gift] … Tiffany [was expecting a ring], and when I gave her the sweater, she got mad. She said, ‘What is this? I said this is a Tommy Hilfiger sweater, and she said, ‘What? I don’t want no sweater, where is my ring?’ And I said, ‘Tiffany, this is a nice sweater…,” Marc laughed.
Tiffany apologized for her reaction to the gift and said she was expecting a ring. “And I said, ‘You mean this ring?’ and pulled it out. She started apologizing and I said it was okay. I set it up like that to get your juices going,” Marc laughed. “And I said now, are you gonna marry me?’ and she was like ‘I guess so’, and her roommate was like ‘You guess?’, and she said, ‘yes’.
“You see what kinda person I’m dealing with? He wanted to tick me off just to make me laugh after it,” Tiffany laughed. “I was happy. But I went from being mad to excited we were getting married and straight into planning mode. I didn’t know how we were going to get the money to get married. We were young [Tiffany, then 20, and Marc, 19], broke, and full-time college students,” she said.
The wedding: At First Missionary Baptist Church in Troy, officiated by its pastor, Reverend George Gilchrist. Their colors were wine and ivory.
Most memorable for the bride was serenading her groom. “I sang to him during the ceremony [‘My Love, Sweet Love’, by Patti Labelle from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack]. It was hard to keep my composure and there wasn’t a dry eye in the church. All of the groomsmen were crying, it was a very touching and emotional moment,” Tiffany said. “I have an aunt who decorates, and she used the leaves from the magnolia trees on Troy’s campus and transformed the church. We had such concern for how we were going to pay for everything, but the church didn’t let us pay for having the wedding there, and all the concerns we had about having the wedding were taken care of.”
Most memorable for the groom was also everyone’s emotions while he was serenaded. “We share the same memory, but for totally different reasons,” Marc said. “I looked around the church and my mom was crying, the bridesmaids were crying, I looked at the pastor and he was crying, and I looked behind me and all of my groomsmen were sniffling too and they were supposed to hold me down,” he laughed. “Once I saw everybody was crying, I didn’t have no more strength to hold it together, I was done. I tried to be tough but, I let it go.”
The young college students couldn’t afford a honeymoon. “We went right back to class and work afterward,” Marc said. “We spent one night at a hotel in Troy and went back to class and Marc back to football practice on Monday,” Tiffany said.
Words of wisdom: “First of all, stay friends. We took divorce off the table which meant we had to work at whatever was going on. And if you’re willing to put in the work to sustain your relationship then it will sustain and grow. And you better keep God first,” Marc said.
“I agree with keeping God first and friendship because I think friendship has been the thing that has held us together the most. We’ve had some challenging times, but with God and our friendship, we’ve been able to work through those times,” said Tiffany. “Our friends call us boyfriend and girlfriend because we still talk on the phone and text all day like we’re still dating, but for us, it’s just open communication.”
Happily ever after: The Browns attend Liberty Reigns Ministries in Hueytown, where they both serve as Assistant Pastors, and have three children; Kia, 29, Justin, 28, and Jirrah, 24.
Tiffany, 50, is an Atmore Ala. native, and Escambia County High School [Atmore] grad. She attended Troy University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work, and Capella University [online] where she obtained a master’s degree in social work. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and works as a medical social worker in Birmingham.
Marc, 48, is an Auburn native, an Auburn High School grad, and attended Troy University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He is a member of Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity [APO] Inc. and works as a plant control operator for Alabama Power.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
