Coleman and Drew's dad, Dale, were on the school boards in their respective hometowns, and they had met in an elevator at a Texas Association of School Boards meeting. Elizabeth, Laura, and their cousin, Lavinia Owen, met Drew's sister, Dawn, at Texas Tech through the College of Ag and by being members of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Gayle then met Dawn while visiting her sisters at Tech. Elizabeth and Lavinia had seen pictures of Drew, and they kept telling Dawn how her brother needed to meet Gayle!
After dating for 3 years (much longer than the Locke family norm), they were engaged in March of 2000 and got married that September. Drew had already begun working on the "George W. Bush for President campaign," and Gayle started work as the Marketing Manager for the Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo in Austin. Drew traveled on the campaign trail quite often, and his work paid off when they announced (finally, after he worked on the recount team in Florida for a month which kept Drew away on their first Thanksgiving!) that Bush had won the election.
Now for the big turning point in thier lives: the decision to move to the East Coast (which everyone knows was not an easy one). Drew met several people while on the campaign, and one of those people became the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, seen in the picture to the right with Gayle and Drew. She and the White House made Drew an offer that he could not refuse, so they decided that they would live apart for a while until Gayle had completed the Rodeo in Austin.
Gayle and Drew lived apart from January until July of 2001; a very atypical newlywed life. She flew to DC or Drew flew to Texas every few weeks, so they definitely worked on the frequent flier miles!!! After a great stint at the Rodeo with a record-setting year, Gayle and Drew packed up the house in Austin and drove 1500 miles, with Coleman and Regina, to their new home in Alexandria, Virginia (Gayle cried the whole way out here).
Drew is currently the White House Liaison for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Gayle works at the Center for Public Policy of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in DC. Highlights of their fun, "touristy" activities in DC include various events at the White House, including the opportunity to meet President Bush on the South Lawn at a Marine One landing seen at the left. In their spare time, Gayle and Drew just hang out with their new friends and try to see all that they can up there. Right now, they spend much of their time playing on the USDA Prime (yes, back to the meat judging terms) softball team.
The hardest part so far, as it was for the entire country, was being there on September 11th. Gayle and Drew had gone to NYC the week before for their 1st anniversary, so they were some of the last people to see the World Trade Center standing. Gayle was not working at the time, so she was at home when Drew called on 9/11 about the Twin Towers. Their house actually shook when the Pentagon was hit (they live only a couple of miles away from the Pentagon). This picture was taken at a vigil in Washington, D.C. after the attacks.
Austin's little brother, Parker John was born January 19, 2005 on inaguration weekend in Washington, D.C. We think it was pretty cool that the President of the United States had such a big party for his birthday!
They try to make it home as often as they can, especially to the Brahman events. Gayle and Drew will be back to Texas one day, but while we they are in D.C., their door is always open. So if you head out to our Nation's capitol, look them up...they love to have visitors from home!
