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Health & Fitness

Post A - Rob and Katie Write About Each Other

He's a conservative, she's a liberal. Rob and Katie Gryder introduce each other and write about their politics, as well as their marriage.

When Rob and I saw the post on the Patch announcing blogs, we were very excited. We are both believers in working together, and we thought this was the perfect opportunity to showcase how we have managed to overcome our differences throughout our marriage.

You see, I am the skeleton in Rob's closet. I am a raging liberal. As Rob's politics lean decidedly to the right it has been an interesting nearly 6 years so far. We plan on tackling local and national issues from both of our perspectives. Hopefully we can help everyone see that it's not so hard for all of us to get along.

We thought it might be fun to start off with a little background info so you all know who we are and what we're about. In the true spirit of the blog, we decided to write each other's.  So take everything you read below with a grain of salt.

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Rob, by Katie

Find out what's happening in Yorkvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rob Gryder was born in Aurora on Nov. 12, 1980. He resided in Plano for most of his childhood and moved to Plano when he was 17. Nothing else much happened to him until he turned 20 and met his beautiful wife Katie. Although she was only 15, he knew she was the one.

The debate still rages about when they first met. Katie, who is clearly always right, insists they met at a play in which she had a role. Rob insists they met on the Fourth of July. As Katie has never been wrong, the first story must be true. They remained close friends until 2004 when Katie was in her junior year of college. On her 19th birthday, they had their first date and have been together ever since. Rob moved to Macomb with Katie while she finished her last year of college and then they moved back to Yorkville to start their life together.

Rob came from a long tradition of political involvement. His father served as Little Rock Township supervisor for four formative childhood years. He remembers running around his office sorting through garbage that had been found on the side of the road so it could be returned to it's rightful owners.

His mother served on the Plano Library Board as well as the Yorkville Library Board. His brother is involved in everything. I can't even begin to list it. His picture is in the paper more than the president. Rob ran for mayor as well. Although he withdrew from the race, he still has a vested interest in the community.

Rob's one fault is his political affiliation. He is a Republican. Luckily for him his beautiful wife Katie was able to look past that and fall in love with him anyway. I hope all of you can do the same.   

 Katie, by Rob

Katie Gryder was born in November 1985. The unfortunate thing for Katie is that she has no memories of the Reagan White House. She has foggy memories of Daddy Bush, but she really came in to her understanding of government and politics during the Clinton administration.  

Katie’s mom Linda has served on the Yorkville Library Board. Her father once ran for a county board seat (not in Kendall County). I have no idea where her father’s politics are, but it’s clear her mother has a large influence on her politics. They’re both ragingly liberal. 

Katie and I agree on the end-game of most topics. Where we disagree is how to get there. I’m more of the classic “smaller government,” and “level playing field,” kind. Katie doesn’t always think it’s enough for everyone to have equal opportunity; she likes to see people who need help have help available at the ready. She thinks a country as wealthy and prosperous as ours should do more to help the unfortunate. She thinks we have an obligation to deliver some minimal modicum of support people.

And that's fine. I love that she wants to help.

Our votes cancel each other out. 

Katie is a researcher. I’m absolutely amazed sometimes at the facts and figures she spouts off during conversations. When she is passionate about something – as she is with Planned Parenthood, or Special Education – she really gets down to the details. She knows her stuff. She releases tangential torrents of facts and figures.  

She usually goes along with all the Democratic party-line stuff, but she is definitely of an independent mind. I’ve heard her disagree with President Obama a few times, and she’s endeared herself to me by walking me through some of the conclusions she’s reached.   

Our relationship benefits me for a number of reasons, but one of the things I like best is that I feel like we’ve both grown to understand differing political ideologies in a better way. That understanding makes some of our differences more interesting and forces us to look closer at our own ideals. It's actually really fun sometimes.     

 

Well, we got through it. Our first post. I can't wait to get better at web-logging, or 'blogging.' I hope it gets better...

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