NATCHEZ — Through 42 years of marriage and most of her life, music has been a constant for Joyce Borum.

When The Dart found Borum Friday on Monticello Drive, she was waiting for her children to come pick her up so she could visit the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, where Borum said the goal was to stay up for the concerts.

“I love music,” Borum said. “I normally have music playing all the time. Music means the world to me.”

Borum said she wasn’t always into music, that passion came when she met the love of her life, her late husband Charles S. Borum.

“He grew up in Stanton Hall and could go out on the front porch and hear the riverboats floating by,” Borum said. “He loved the sound. He always loved the sound of music.”

Borum said Marie Clark Longmire, Charles’ mother, introduced the pair. Borum said she was a student in Longmire’s biology class.

“She always talked about Charles Jr. in class, so I knew him well before we met,” she said. “She took a liking to me, and after I passed an exam, she introduced me to Charles Borum.”

Borum said shortly after they met, the Natchez dentist hired her to be a dental assistant and not long after, they fell in love, were married and ultimately had four children.

“We had a wonderful time together, and I loved dental work,” she said. “I had wanted to be a nurse, but I settled for being a dental assistant because we loved working together and just had a fun time.”

Longmire also continued to have an influence, Borum said. First, she had once told Charles he would never own a calliope, and of course, he ended up not only owning the heavy instrument but also a special truck to tote it.

“It was an old postal service truck, which he had renovated many moons ago,” she said. “He used to love playing the instrument in the parade.

“We also used to love going to the circus to play whenever it was in town. Can you believe Natchez used to have two circuses?”

Borum said Longmire also told Charles he’d never be able to play the piano, but he did ultimately learn the instrument.

“I think when his mother said he would never do something, that just inspired him to do it,” Borum said, laughing.

Borum, who attends First Presbyterian Church, said the music didn’t stop with the calliope, as Charles also played Taps at funerals. Borum said as a couple they also sang in the church choir.

“It was just fun to do things together,” she said. “I learned by just singing. I always used to sing.”

And even though Charles has been gone for more than 10 years, Borum said music is still in her life.

“I love gospel music, and that was one thing Charles did not care for,” she said. “We did almost everything together, but Saturday night was always for gospel music.”

Borum said if she could do one aspect of her life over, it might be making more time to record memories in a journal.

“I just lived life,” she said. “Raising children was fun — they had a great time growing up.  Everything is just wonderful.”