Retired Postal Worker Builds ‘Museum of Love’ to Honor His Wife’s Memory

In Starkville, Mississippi, there’s a new museum, but it’s not dedicated to famous residents such as baseball legend “Cool Pappa” Bell or former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus, but to Louise Evans. Retired postal worker Charles “LaLa” Evans was married to Louise for 60 years, until she passed away in 2011. When Charles met Louise in 1949, it was love at first sight. “When you looked at her it was like an electrical shock,” Evans says in the video above. So when she passed away, he knew a tombstone wouldn’t do her justice. That’s why he built a museum dedicated to their love.

LaLa and Louise Land was built in a little building behind their home, and it’s filled with memories from their six decades together. In one corner sits the shoeshine stand where Charles worked when he first met Louise. One wall holds an exhibit of 8-track tapes and albums the couple loved listening to while they danced. On another wall are more than 1,000 photos documenting every important moment in the couple’s life together.

The museum isn’t just a place where visitors can reminisce about Louise’s life, it’s an area where Charles can commune with her memory. On slow days, Charles plays music in the museum and slow-dances. “I guess I’m trying to relive our life, would you think?” he told CBS Evening News reporter Steve Hartman. “But it’s not a suffering memory, it’s a beautiful memory.”