Sunday Kind of Love: Mara & Greg

"The life and love we create is the life and love we get."- Leo Buscaglia 

Another Sunday Kind of Love has arrived and I feel incredibly lucky to know people who have such amazing love in their lives.  To be around love, no matter how different it is from my own, is breathtaking to say the least.  I haven't traveled the world to find love in all of its forms.  All I've done is lived my life, in a way in which I am fortunate to meet so many different people.  With difference comes one-of-a-kind stories, personalities, relationships and friendships.  Difference, as I always say, is a wonderful thing to have.

Tonight's couple shares a story of tough love and how never giving up, even in the worst of times, makes every journey worthwhile.  I am incredibly honored and lucky to have interviewed this couple, who make even the biggest skeptics of love, believe.  In a story that is almost out of a movie, I introduce to the world, the story of The Browns, a couple who I believe, can overcome any curve ball life throws at them. 

Mara & Greg

Mara & Greg

They met 14 years ago, in 1998, when they least expected it.  She walked into the lounge where he would be performing that night and he knew right away, that she was different from all the rest.

"He was playing on stage, the drums.  I was friends with somebody in the band.  That's when I first saw him," said Mara Brown.

"When I saw her walk in that night," said Greg Brown, "I liked what I saw.  I liked her walk."

For this husband and wife duo, their first encounter is something that has never faded from their memory.  It has been a defining moment in their relationship, that has helped to remind them from time to time, just how lucky they are to have met that night.

"He chased me for about nine months and I didn't think it was serious because he would just talk his talk," said Mara.  "But one night it was different and he did something that I will never forget; he called me out on my behavior, because at that time, I was flirting but never staying to talk to him afterwards."

"I asked her if she wanted a drink and I told her, now I will see if what you say is true or not.  If you stay after you've had this drink, then I know you're not a liar, but if you leave, I know how you really are," said Greg. 

"I stayed," said Mara, "and we've been together ever since." 

For seven years they dated before getting married, going through every bump in the road they could face, always managing to overcome and become stronger with every hit.  From a crazy ex-wife, who followed and stalked them for years after they became a couple, making every moment they shared together more stressful and tense than exciting, to unfortunate and heartbreaking losses of children who never made it to full life, Greg and Mara Brown have truly been through many hurdles in their 14 year courtship.  Yet, no matter what they have achieved as a couple, it is what they have made of those moments, that have helped shape and strengthen their love, for so long.  

Wedding Day, August 12, 2006

Almost three years ago, they welcomed into the world their first baby, who was born three months too soon.  For six months he stayed in the hospital, as Greg and Mara held on, to a child they did not want to lose.  When Mara went into labor too soon, Greg knew that that moment would alter their lives, and he was right.

"Everything we've been through has been a hard thing to overcome and still like each other after that," said Greg.  "But the biggest struggle was Markus and I didn't know what would happen.  Is my wife gonna live or die?  Is this one gonna keep or not?  Am I going to be able to be in this world alone if something happens?"

When Mara was finally able to come home, her loving husband had to leave that same day, to a gig out of town that they needed for survival.  They survived.  They managed.  They made it work, because they loved.  They loved like no other love before them and it's obvious when you see them together, that their love is of most importance.

Nowadays, their beautiful son is thriving, growing more and more everyday.  For them, he is their true miracle, a soul that has impacted their lives more than they could have ever imagined.  And for Greg and Mara, he is a creation that has taught them more about love and life, altogether.

Greg, Mara, and their miracle boy, Markus

"Greg being there for me, in those moments, was such a blessing," said Mara. 

"I was worried about the hurt, because we had already lost two babies before him," said Greg.  "But we made it."

The secret to keeping their love alive, is simply, learning how to let go of things instead of dwelling in them.  They know each other's quirks, always stand up for who they are as individuals, and know when to stand their ground and when to listen.  They are different, but that is what makes everything about who they are as a couple, work.

No matter what life may bring them, their love will always persevere.  They connect just like a puzzle, always knowing how to fit just right; and they really love each other!