Fate was already hard at work when one Marshall couple was younger, unaware forever was waiting patiently.
Kat Smith, the director of student advocacy & success in Student Affairs, said she first met Tracy Smith, the director of environment health and safety, at her grandmother’s dance studio.
“His mom and my mom taught tap dance together,” Kat said. “I remember even as a little girl always being on her shoulders, and his mom has been my second mom my entire life.”
Kat said while she moved away to Maine when she was 5 and did not return to West Virginia until she was 18, she and Tracy had a series of serendipitous encounters.
“We would just run into each other at the weirdest places,” Kat said. “I didn’t think much of it, and we continued our separate ways.”
Kat moved back to Maine, and in 2011, when she made plans to move back, the pair reconnected on Facebook. Tracy discovered she needed help with the move, and the rest was history, he said.
“I helped her move back,” Tracy said. “We started hanging out a bit, and here we are.”
Despite Kat’s history with Tracy’s family, she said Tracy’s mother was initially puzzled at her appearance at Thanksgiving dinner.
“They looked at us and were like, ‘Are you friends? Are you more than friends,’” Kat said. “We said we weren’t sure yet, but it just progressed from there.”
Meanwhile, both Kat and Tracy said some of their favorite dates have been road trips in the mountain state.
“We take road trips in the summer all around West Virginia,” Kat said. “We go, hang out at local restaurants, and it’s just our thing.”
Likewise, Tracy said, “I love our state; it’s just a beautiful place with so many things to do, so we’ve tried to hit all the state parks in West Virginia.”
Recently, the pair continued their love of traveling through a trip to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to attend Tracy’s son and Kat’s stepson’s wedding.
When the couple isn’t traveling, they said they enjoy nurturing their family of four pugs, featuring a pug couple with their two babies.
With both Kat and Tracy’s hectic work schedules, and their pug family, the couple said they aim to try and find a work-life balance, despite its challenges.
“Her world at the university is much different than mine,” Tracy said. “We try to be supportive when we can, and it may not always be easy, but we do always figure it out.”
Mirroring this, Kat said a classic vent session after a particularly rough day heals all.
“We don’t necessarily need the other person to come up with a resolution,” Kat said. “We just have to listen to each other.”
Just like a listening heart, Kat said she learned something from Tracy she said is larger than life: the gospel.
“He was a catalyst for me becoming a Christian and finding God in my life,” Kat said. “To me, that is invaluable.”
Tracy said he has learned many lessons from Kat, but most prominently is the ability to view issues from multiple lenses.
“I’m very analytical and sort of see things in black and white,” Tracy said. “I’ve learned that there is a lot of gray and to see the world differently.”
More than anything, Kat said Tracy’s loyal spirit will always remain an admirable character trait.
“He has had a group of best friends he has had since elementary school, and not many people have that,” Kat said. “His loyalty to them, me and his family is unlike any loyalty I’ve ever seen in anyone.”
Tracy said Kat’s caring nature is the most attractive quality of all.
“She cares about everything, sometimes to the point she creates her own stress caring for others,” Tracy said. “It opened my eyes to a different view because she’s just a good soul.”
Kaitlyn Fleming can be contacted at [email protected].
