Tracey and Greg
Together 42 Years, Married for 37
I went to school with Tracey from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and was curious to know how she met Greg Currie. We grew up in a small town called Pilot Mound with a population of 700 people in southern Manitoba, Canada, in the heart of the prairies. Greg and Tracey lived a mere five miles apart. However, because they went to different schools, they didn’t have much contact til they were in high school. Back in the day, the two schools were rivals and the boys from one school didn’t show up at the other school or town uninvited. One of Tracey’s best friends, Mary Ellen, was Greg’s cousin and so they knew of each other through this connection. Greg, at 16, having seen Tracey was quite interested and was disappointed to hear she had a boyfriend. One day, a friend called him and said, “It’s over and Tracey is single.” Greg didn’t waste any time, he called her up on a party line and asked if she would attend his sister’s wedding the very next day. For those of you who don’t know what a party line is it involves sharing a phone line with several people who live near you–common in rural areas right up until the 90’s. Of course, people listened to one another’s conversations. Greg quipped, “It was as quick as facebook for sharing information.” On August 5, 1987, they went to the wedding together. The date went well and they have been together ever since.
Tracey said she knew pretty much right from the beginning that Greg was the one. Tracey had it in her mind that she wanted to marry someone and live in the country. They’ve been together since they were 16 and in essence, grew up together doing all the crazy teenage antics together and sharing the milestones of high school graduation and university.
Greg says that’s not true–if Tracey knew right away, she never let on to him. It was a month before high school started up in the fall when they started dating and Greg said to his friend, “This is a girl I could probably marry.” Greg says Tracey made him do a lot of work to make sure she knew he was the one. A month or two after they’d been dating, Greg asked Tracey, “So are we going steady?” She thought it was a pretty stupid question. “Of course they were.” Greg was from a tiny town, as in a population of 200, between the two rival schools, and so he was able to attend parties in both of the larger towns without concern. This expanded their social circle and they had lots of parties to attend.
Tracey and Greg have grown and changed over the years but their core values haven’t. They both grew up in families where family came first and their extended family has continued to support them over the years. Their upbringing has influenced the way they’ve raised their children and decisions have been made from a base of love and family.
Everyone has ups and downs but if you have a strong foundation of love and you’re just stubborn enough to ride through the rough times, you know it will be worth it and you’ll come out on top.
Tracey
Greg jokes that you might also want to check with your girlfriend to see how many kids they would like. He loves his wife and his wife loves children and so they have six. If there were disagreements about issues with the children, they tried not to discuss them in front of them–they were a united front.
Greg believes that your spouse has to be your priority and you have to look after your relationship first. Your relationship is the trunk of the tree and if your kids or career become the centre of your world, it weakens the trunk. You need a strong trunk to hold up the branches. They have made a concerted effort over the years, to take time for themselves as a couple with date nights and travel.
Tracey concluded, “If you can stay close as a couple, when things come up you can handle it. It’s all challenging stuff but worth it in the end.”
Broadcast Love wishes you many more adventurous years together full of love and grandchildren.
Broadcast Love 