‘Workplace hate’ turns to ‘forever love’

There was nothing in their first meeting that led Faith Scroggins to think that Ron Scroggins would one day be her husband.

In fact, she recalls now with a smile, it was a genuine case of “workplace hate.”

Faith Caylor Scroggins and James Ronald “Ron” Scroggins Jr. had known of each other “always” but had never really talked until the summer after she graduated from college.

The daughter of Bill and Sharon Caylor of New Brockton is a graduate of New Brockton High School and the University of West Alabama with a master’s degree in elementary education. She is the granddaughter of Guy and Jennine Caylor and the late Margulene Caylor, all of New Brockton, and the late Gerald and Linda Davis of Kinston.

While waiting for the start of the new school year and new teaching job, Faith Scroggins had been hired for the summer at her uncle’s business, Snellgrove and Caylor Heating and Cooling in Daleville.

The son of of Sandra Scroggins Wood and the late James Ronald Scroggins Sr. of the Straughn Community is a graduate of Straughn High School and LBW Community College in Andalusia. He is the grandson of Rose Burlew and the late Homer Burlew of Pineville, La., and the late Alford and Bertha Mae Scroggins of Wing Community in Covington County.

Ron Scroggins was a manager at Snellgrove and Caylor Heating and Cooling when his future wife was hired for the summer. “So I was his boss’s niece,” she said with a smile.

“We hated each other from ‘day one,’” Faith Scroggins recalled with a smile. “I distinctly remember saying to him on my first day at work, ‘I’d love to get you fired,’ to which he responded, ‘I’d like to see you try.’

“From that day on, I would find mystery gifts on my desk at work,” she said. “He certainly hid himself well because I never figured out who they were from.”

Faith Scroggins said that eventually it was time for her to begin her first teaching job at Kinston Elementary School and she didn’t see her former co-worker for a while. “One day I ran into him at a gas station and we talked for about an hour.

“Ron and I never really had an official start to our dating,” she said. “We had each other’s number from work and we talked from then on—I guess our hate for one another finally fizzled out because pretty soon we were always together.”

By Christmas of 2019, Faith Scroggins felt pretty certain that she would be getting a marriage proposal. “My whole family was buzzing with excitement and ‘just knew’ it was going to happen but Christmas came and went—no proposal.

“The Sunday after Christmas, we were going to meet Ron’s mom for lunch after church. The service ran over and his mom was already waiting at the restaurant,” Faith Scroggins said. “But Ron decided we needed to first stop by one of my favorite places to visit, Lake Frank Jackson in Opp.

“I told Ron he was crazy and reminded him that his mom was already waiting but we pulled into the lake and saw two fishermen on the bank at my favorite spot,” Faith Scroggins said. “Ron immediately turned the truck around and said, ‘Never mind.’ I was confused.”

Faith Scroggins said that after lunch Ron wanted to return to the lake. “I was clueless and at this point frustrated,” she said. “When we returned to the lake, the two fishermen were gone. We walked around, as we always did.

“Ron asked me if I got all of the gifts I wanted for Christmas. I nonchalantly responded, ‘I guess so,’” she recalled. “He told me he had one more and I spun around to find him on one knee.

“I’d love to know who the two fishermen were who delayed my proposal but it was perfect,” Faith Scroggins said. “After I gained my composure, we noticed there were three sunshine spots overlooking the lake through the clouds. We decided they were his father and my two grandmothers expressing their approval for us.”

“I knew she was the one when we had to be apart for four days,” said Ron Scroggins. “It was then I realized I could never imagine my life without her in it every day. She made it all make sense. 

“When we first met, I didn’t really think much about it. She was beautiful but I didn’t bother her,” Ron Scroggins recalled. “She was a coworker, and we did not get along at first.

“It took me getting to know her to see she was all I could possibly want,” he added. “It took me a while to get up the courage to talk to her but I’m so glad I did.” 

Planning a wedding during a global pandemic was a challenge but Ron Scroggins remained a rock, his wife said. “Ron constantly reminded me that everything would be fine. He is a prayer warrior. He prayed over the building, over the guest list, over each other that we would remain healthy and all of those in attendance would be as well.

“Any time I felt overwhelmed or concerned as the COVID case numbers rose, he would just hold my hand and pray silently. He constantly reassured me that God’s plan would unfold,” Faith Scroggins said.

The wedding was June 20 at Calvary Baptist Church in Enterprise, the church she was raised in. “Our prayers were heard and there was not an empty seat. We saw who our people were and the love they had for us by showing up anyway.”

Following the ceremony, a wedding reception was held at The Barn on Fuller Hill in the Ino Community. “We enjoyed a good barbecue supper and danced the evening away,” Faith Scroggins said. “It was — and still is — the best day of our lives.

“We look back at our pictures, and are instantly reminded of the day where ‘workplace hate’ turned into a ‘forever love.’”

Ron Scroggins is employed with the Coffee County Commission as the maintenance department supervisor. Faith Scroggins is now employed with the Coffee County Board of Education as a first grade teacher at New Brockton Elementary School.

The couple currently live in New Brockton and plan to build their home on her grandparents’ land. “We plan on raising our future family here,” she said.

“All my life I remember sitting in the pews of my church and staring at the altar, the windows, the light fixtures, everything,” Faith Scroggins said. “The morning of my wedding, I was the first to arrive at the church.”

“We were taking bets on who would cry at our wedding. I just knew I wasn’t going to. That’s not my style,” he said. “As soon as I turned around I couldn’t help it. I knew for once in my life I was right where I needed to be.” 

“I sat in the same pew my family always did and marveled at the work God had done in our lives,” she added. “I was sitting in the reality of my dreams.”