Gayle, 38, was born to Dottie and Oscar Smith in Springdale, Mississippi. Dottie and Oscar already had a son and two daughters they couldn't afford, but everyone fell in love with Gayle as soon as she arrived in the world.
Money was tight for the Smiths, and they didn't have some of the things other families had, like cable television, air conditioning, or a microwave oven. Gayle was always embarrassed when they had visitors and never wanted to invite her friends over.
She enjoyed school as much as any kid could when all she had to wear was her sister's hand-me-down clothes and shoes. When she finally graduated from high school, Gayle was happy to be done with studying and the social pressures she couldn't afford.
She left home and moved into a small apartment in Oxford with a few girlfriends. She worked at several jobs before being hired as a waitress at Raymond Jennings's restaurant, but that job proved to be a blessing for Gayle.
Ray was smitten from the moment he met Gayle, but he didn't think she would ever be interested in him, so he hired her instead. Every week, they somehow ended up with similar schedules at the restaurant and spent a lot of time working side by side. One day, Ray finally got the nerve to ask her out.
Gayle was thrilled. Even though she wasn't especially attracted to Ray, she was looking for a man with enough money to provide for her and give her everything she wanted or needed. Ray fit that bill perfectly.
They had been seeing each other for a year when Ray proposed. Gayle accepted and settled into her life of financial stability, cemented a few years later with the birth of their twins, George and Dottie.
