How They Met: Gill Deacon and Grant Gordon

CBC Radio One’s Gill Deacon and her husband, Liberal politician Grant Gordon, actually met when they were kids, though little did they know — well, you get the rest. With strong, passionate ambitions of protecting the environment, raising their three kids and performing music together, their marriage has evolved into a truly unshakeable bond. Gill Deacon took time out of her busy day to speak to us about their unique marriage and how their relationship started with a Buick, the family cottage and a hilarious granddaddy. 

How they met
It’s a funny story because we sort of “re-met.” My husband and I first met when we were kids at my family’s cottage on the Ottawa River. His paternal grandfather and my paternal grandfather were both from Pembrook, Ont., and as a result, both of our families spent some part of the summer there. So when we were kids, we crossed paths. But, he’s a few years older than I am so we didn’t really hang out. But years later, we subsequently sat next to each other at my cousin’s wedding, and I recognized him from back in the day. 

The first date
I was living in Montreal at the time and he was living in Toronto. I had just come into town for my cousin’s wedding. But I was smitten, so I got up my nerve to call him and let him know I knew he had a grandfather in Montreal. So I said, “If you’re ever in Montreal, look me up,” and he ended up coming to Montreal. Our first date was with his grandfather, which was sort of funny. We hadn’t seen each other in several weeks, since this wedding where we had re-met, and we agreed we’d go out for dinner. I went to meet him at the appointed address, and it was his grandfather’s place. We climbed into the back of his grandfather’s big, old Buick and drove out to his golf club and had a very hilarious dinner with this old grandfather. Then we went out on our own together, and then I dropped him back off at his grandfather’s with the arrangement that I would pick him up the next morning to drive up to the river.

The engagement
The proposal was very quiet, just between the two of us on Christmas Eve. He had been travelling in South Africa, where his sister lives, and he had a bracelet made by a South African artist that had some cultural significance to do with love and unions, so he gave me that instead of an engagement ring.

The marriage
We got married on the Ottawa River. It was an island where my parents have a cottage, the same island where our grandfathers used to sit together and look out on to the Laurentians together. My brother paddled me across the river in a canoe that my mom had filled with a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers. My husband’s brother and his cousin paddled him across the river coming from a different island in a different canoe full of wildflowers. So, we both arrived on the shore of our island (I was in bare feet), and we stepped out onto the rock, and all the guests were standing around on this sloped rock, the perfect amphitheatre to watch the service. It was beautiful.

Relationship advice
Your marriage or your relationship can be whatever you want it to be, and it doesn’t have to look like anybody else’s.

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