Robin Paul was born and raised in Winston-Salem, graduating from Carver High School in 1980. She went on to attend Forsyth Technical Community College, High Point College and Winston-Salem State. Charles Paul, two years older, was born in Anderson, S.C., but his family moved to Winston-Salem when he was 4. He went to several schools because of forced busing, and wound up graduating from East Forsyth, then went on to Winston-Salem State.
They consider themselves an unlikely pair.
"We grew up in the same church, but he didn't like me -- he couldn't stand me," Robin Paul said. "He thought I was spoiled, or whatever. He thought my father spoiled me. Then I used to baby-sit his brother and sister, and he used to come over. And before you know it, we were just friends. And we remained friends for a long time. And then we started dating, and I guess we started growing on each other. Yes, we did. We started growing on each other. And I love him to death."