The Fulton Sun continues the "Week of Love," a collection of daily love stories from around Callaway County leading up to Valentine's Day.
Day five: The story of Jimmy and Ronda Hays
Saturday was a very special day for Jimmy and Ronda Hays. Surrounded by family and friends, the Hays' relived just a small part of their lives together, and celebrated their wedding anniversary.
Both Jimmy and Ronda Hays have spent their lives in Callaway County, but had very different lives growing up.
"(Jimmy) was born in Readsville, and then moved to Mokane," Ronda said, "From the time he was born until the 50's, he didn't have electricity. They still had outhouses."
Ronda said she had a different experience, even after her family moved from Fulton to the country.
"My mother wouldn't live in our new house until Daddy put a bathroom in," she said.
Later, when Ronda was a senior in high school, she met Jimmy.
"I was working as a carhop at the A&W, and he drove in one night in a beautiful, two-tone Mercury," Ronda said. "He had just come back from the service, and I was dating someone else at the time."
The other man was soon no longer an issue.
"The guy I was dating broke up with me right before prom," Ronda said. "So, when Jimmy came back and asked me out on a date, I said 'Why not.'"
The couple took a trip to the drive in movie, and the rest is history.
"We went to the movie, and ate at the snack bar," Ronda said. "It wasn't a big deal, but we have been together ever since."
Two years later, the couple was married at the Methodist Church.
"It wasn't a very big wedding," Ronda said, "I think there was less than 100 people there."
Ronda said that Jimmy bought a house before the wedding, and it paid off to be prepared.
"He bought the house before we were married," she said. "There was plenty of time to get furniture and things for the kitchen. Then, we ended up living in that house for 37 years."
Their house was always filled with children after their eldest daughter, Tonya Hays-Martin, was born.
"She started crossing the street to play with friends at two," Ronda said. "But by the time she was three, our house was the one all the kids came too, so it was always full."
That full house of their's got lonely sometimes, Ronda said.
"Jimmy had a job that required him to be out of town a lot," she said. "It was stressful to be home alone so much. But then, in the late 80's, I got a job where I traveled a bunch, so I guess it all evened out."
Trina Hays, Jimmy and Ronda's youngest daughter, said that her parents were everything she could have asked for.
"How do you sum that up, a lifetime of having wonderful parents?" she said. "There are the things they taught us: a hard work ethic, family values and how to be nice to people. That last one, being nice to others, my mom would give the shirt off her back to someone in need. Because being kind and caring to other people, that's priceless."
Michelle Hays agreed, saying that Jimmy and Ronda have an impact on everyone around them.
"They have this respect about them," she said. "A respect for each other, and for other people. It makes people around them want to be better."
Jimmy and Ronda said that their differences is what has made them work.
"We are not alike," Jimmy said.
"That's true, and opposites do attract," Ronda said. "We complement each other. There are things he does that I can't, and vice versa.
The Hays' have two daughters, and three grandchildren.
Jimmy and Ronda Hays have been married 50 years to the day as of Saturday.
If you know of any Callaway love stories you would like to share this week, please let us know at [email protected].