Today, the couple has three children and reside in Ottawa
By
Mark Schadenberg
Waiting
rooms are the places magazines go to be re-discovered and stacked up high.
Sometimes
it’s a doctor’s office or at your dentist while you’re waiting for your
six-month cleaning – an occasion to flip through the pages of an old MacLean’s,
Sports Illustrated or Today’s Parent.
At
my son’s karate school this past week I unearthed quite a jewel in the haystack
of publications – an issue of Chatelaine dating back to October of 2006.
Spencer’s Sensei should update his reading material, but this Chatelaine was
worth me sneaking out the door due to its feature profile story, which is a
must-read looking back from the exactly one decade since the biographical piece
was printed.
Who
is the story about? Which famous Canadian of today was essentially introduced
to the pop culture of our nation 10 years ago?
Sophie
Gregoire.
The
wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was interviewed by Maryam Sanati, who
would later become the editor-in-chief of Chatelaine. Her resume includes
Toronto Life magazine and feature writing for The Globe And Mail.
Maryam Sanati
Sophie’s
Story
Justin
Trudeau was born on Christmas Day in 1971 and is now our country’s 23rd
Prime Minister. He was first elected to Parliament in 2008 in the Montreal
riding of Papineau, so he obviously climbed the Ottawa ladder quickly as he rose
to Liberal leader officially in April of 2013 after holding several critic
portfolios, including the department of citizen and immigration. Trudeau won 184
of 338 seats to be elected PM last year, so the evolution was complete –
Algonquin Park camp counsellor to Prime Minister.
Justin
had two younger brothers, but the youngest Michel died in 1998 in an avalanche.
Justin had originally met Sophie years earlier as she and Michel had been
classmates at a private school.
Their
first date was dinner, a walk and a karaoke bar. Justin sang Elton John’s Your
Song, while Sophie says her tune was something by Shania Twain. At the time,
Sophie was employed by a Montreal CTV station as an entertainment reporter. She
admitted to recovering from the eating disorder bulimia as well.
The
Chatelaine biography on Sophie covered several pages and was quite an in-depth
look at the new bride of Justin’s as they were married on May 28, 2005. Today,
they have 3 children, but due to renovations at 24 Sussex Drive, the family
does not reside in the same house Justin lived in as a child.
If
you’re a fan of the couple and want a copy of the magazine, simply contact me
as I save hockey and baseball facts books, but truly have little interest in
this artifact, which as you will recall from the beginning of this writing I had
‘borrowed’ anyway. I only have one, so it goes to the first call, and there will
be no skill testing question.
In
Chatelaine -- in the story entitled ‘She Made It All Happen’ -- there are many
quotes by Sophie, which 10 years later, are quite intriguing and thoughtful.
Below are a few quotes I re-typed:
“Marriage
is tough, the toughest route you can choose, no doubt about that. You have to
take your ego and you have to adjust, adapt, adjust, adapt. You have to learn,
listen and fight. I believe in that profoundly.”
“I’m
a Taurus. I’m very hard-headed and passionate. But I’m very sensitive. I did
want to please everyone when I was young and I understand now that it isn’t
possible.”
She
told a story about the first house they purchased together, saying:
“Sometimes
I can picture all of us on Sunday morning. We are all in our PJs at the kitchen
table. We’re eating. We’re reading our newspapers, and the kids are playing . .
. For me, that is the idea of pure happiness. That’s it. That’s what I want.”
LINKS:
2008 Link:
2000 Link:
I love Canadian history;
love putting Canadians into their dream Oxford County home
Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . .
Destination
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