Tracey Bender, Gibson Southern’s receptionist, graduated from Gibson Southern in 1979. While she is often found at a desk, in the early morning she starts off on her morning walk of six miles! For 25 years she has been logging these miles with her friend, Monday through Friday, starting at 3:45 a.m. They have not missed a day together.
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Southerner: What’s the best thing you’ve crossed off your bucket list?
Bender: “Probably my trip to Turks and Caicos with my family. That’s a place I always wanted to go, and we got to go there this past summer. I refer to it as my retirement party and my 65th birthday party.”
Southerner: What’s your go-to coffee order?
Bender: “I don’t drink coffee. I like hot tea though, like regular black hot tea.”
Southerner: What do you think is an underrated kitchen appliance or gadget and why?
Bender: “I don’t cook very much. This is a hard one for me but maybe a blender? Because it does a lot of different things, but I never think about getting it out and using it. But once I do, I love the things I can make, like a smoothie.”
Southerner: What’s your favourite room in your house and why?
Bender: “My favorite room is my bedroom because I love my bed. I think it’s so comfortable and cozy, and I love it.”
Southerner: What toppings are on your ideal pizza?
Bender: “I like about everything except jalapenos. Anything, like super hot and spicy, I can’t do, but actually, I like about everything else.”
Southerner: What smell reminds you most of a specific time or place?
Bender: “I think probably Christmas scents that make me think of when I was young, going to grandparents’ house, or you know Christmas as a kid. Like the smell of a real tree because we had real trees when I was young. So, like that greenery smell or some of the smells around Christmas makes me think of Christmas.”
Southerner: What’s your signature dance move?
Bender: “Oh goodness, I’d say like the disco, you know, from back in the ‘70s, I was a ‘70s girl.”
Southerner: What would your personal theme song or walk-on song be?
Bender: “It’s a PitBull song, and we used to play it all the time here. I think the name was ‘I Feel Good’.”
Southerner: What’s an unexpected life lesson you’ve learned?
Bender: “That there’s probably more good than bad when it comes to like, I’m thinking about my job now, like, the community, there is so much more good in the community than people, I think give it credit for. People get so focused on the bad things people do or the bad things that happen. There are so many good people that when something happens to just one person or to a family or a community, people really, I feel like, pull together and pull through for them.”
Southerner: What’s your favorite way to spend your day off?
Bender: “Well, I have three grandkids, and they’re like my everything. I love my daughters. They were fantastic, but now they’re big girls, 40 and 35. So, my little grandkids, this year, kindergarten, 2nd and 4th, and I love to hangout with them. They’re fun.”
