Meet Gayland & Kelly: TNMPeople

Loving their life together

Kelly had been with TNMP for seven years when Gayland joined the company. She said she hadn't necessarily pushed him that way, but she encouraged it.

"I'm sure I told him every time there was an opening," Kelly says. "I don't know if I influenced him – but maybe a little bit."

The husband-and-wife duo now has a combined 65-plus years with TNMP, where he is a lineman and she is a billing supervisor. Their jobs have allowed them to remain in Leonard, Gayland's hometown and where Kelly has family ties.

"Getting a job like this was a big deal for me," he says. "I consider it something special."

Kelly started as a clerk-typist at our Whitewright office. She's worked at other offices since then, but is back in Whitewright these days.

"I've been with the company for years," she says. "I've seen people's children and their grandchildren be born."

A little bit about Kelly, from Gayland

Kelly's concerns about the needs of others draws great admiration from her husband.

He notes that her stepfather, Sam, wants to visit Nashville, Tenn., and Kelly wants to make sure it happens.

"She's concerned about other people," Gayland says. "She's a big family girl. She makes sure that things like that are not left undone. She takes care of things other people may not."

A little bit about Gayland, from Kelly

The kitchen in their Leonard home has become Gayland's domain.

"He does 90 percent of the cooking in our home," she says. "I can cook, but he just loves to cook.

"… I'll look in the freezer and say, 'We don't have a thing to eat.' But he'll say, 'Let me look – oh, I'll make something from this.' "