In the age of twitter, text and status updates, the art of writing letters has fallen by the wayside. The heartfelt task of spilling your joy, anguish and love onto a page, and the anticipation of waiting by the mailbox are from another era.
According to his bride of almost 44 years, letters helped Clayton Schrock seal the deal.
Clayton and Marge were first an item in high school. The two met in Grade 11 attending high school at DCHS in 1964. They began dating, although it was sort of on and off. Their first date was in October of that year.
After high school, Marge moved to Saskatoon to go to college. She studied business and worked at the university. Because of the distance, they weren’t seeing each other, but they never lost contact. They started writing and calling on the telephone. The relationship picked up in March of 1967.
“Oh, I had a shoebox full of letters,” she said.
She laughs and said Clayton was a better writer than talker, and the letters definitely helped to woo her.
“In our days we didn’t have e-mail or computers, you were lucky to have a calculator,” she said. “There is a whole different feeling today, there is no wooing.”
“He talked me in to coming back. He wouldn’t move to Saskatoon, so I guess we had to do something,” Marge laughs. “I had a soft spot for Drumheller anyway.”
She also still had many friends in Drumheller, and in June of 1967, she was back in the valley as maid of honour for friend Dorothy Conklin (nee Peebles).
“He presented me with a ring that night,” she said, “which I wasn’t expecting… I didn’t hesitate.”
On October 7, 1967, the two were married.
“We were both 20 and we were both too young, but it worked out.”
It worked out well. They started in the sand and gravel and construction industry in 1971.
They had two boys, Darren and Jason. Family was important and Marge made sure to tend to business and stay home with the two growing boys.
“I had the office put in my home so I could be with the kids,” she said. “I don’t know if you could get away with that now, but you have to have priorities and our priorities were our children.”
She said separating personal and business life was easy for Marge. While they worked together, Clayton was often on a job site or on the road most every day.
School was important and Clayton and Marge made sure the boys achieved their matriculation so they could go on to university if they so chose. Both signed on to join in the family business.
The family grew and today Marge and Clayton have two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren.
When asked what the secret is to more than 43 years of marriage, Marge replies, “He listens to me. You work hand-in-hand and you take the good with the bad.”