My Parents Story...50 Years in the Making

As many of you know my siblings and I are in the midst of celebrating my parents 50th Anniversary. We have family coming in all week by land and air! Such fun times. We are going to the mountains on Thursday to stay in a chalet for several nights. All 32 of us...in one place...chaotic bliss. We just love being together...even in the crazy times. We are having a reception for them on Saturday. My sister Lisa will be reading the following post that the two of us wrote. I am so thankful for the heritage my parents have given me to pass down to my boys. Such blessed memories. God is so good...

This is the love story of Gordon and Joan…

Gordon Charles Widener moved to the Aurora, IL area from Missouri to find work. He worked on the Carlton’s farm. He also attended church with them. Joan had moved to the area with her family from Arkansas. They also began attending the First Apostolic Church on Clark Street in Aurora, IL. This is where they fell in love. Joan and Gordon’s dating days were filled with lots of excitement. Joan would often practice walking down the aisle in the hallway of her home with a lamp shade on her head. Gordon did not court her in fancy style. He picked her up for dates in the bread truck that he used for one of his jobs. It didn’t have a passenger seat, so Joan had to ride around on a milk crate in the truck. The young couple was married at The First Apostolic Church by Rev. Billy Lewis. Ruth Leggett, Joan’s sister, and Donald Carlton, Gordon’s friend, stood up with them.

Mom and Dad married with a whole lot of love, but very little money. But they were so happy that they didn’t care. Mom often says that they didn’t even know that they were poor. Dad worked at the Aurora Paper Board and they lived in a small apartment. They shared a hall way bathroom with the other apartment tenants.

Fourteen months after their wedding day, on September 20, 1960, Lisa LaDean was born. They were so happy and thrilled with their little family. However, it did not stay little for long. Thirteen months later Charles Lance was born and a year and a half later Laura Anne was born. During this time, they lived in a small home on Fifth Avenue in Aurora, and thought it was a mansion. It was a busy time with three toddlers. Mom always says how Dad had time to help her with the babies. He always took part in whatever was going on. Gordon and Joan also added to the excitement by moving from IL to Arkansas and back to IL during the toddler years. When Lisa was four, they moved to 1315 Durham Drive, and this is where the Widener family settled. School life started for the three Widener children. We all attended Gertrude Scott Smith Elementary. The school yard connected with our backyard so we have many memories of walking to school knowing Mom was watching and walking home for lunch knowing Mom would have it ready for us. It felt like we had our own personal playground in the backyard.

Mom and Dad were at the beginning of raising three teenagers and life was good, but suddenly it got better. Mom and Dad told the three of us that our family was going to have a baby. Laura began crying (Laura always cried about everything) and said that she thought Mom was too old to have anymore babies. On July 4, 1973, LaTrisa Hope was born. She was everyone’s baby, and still is the baby of the family.

The four of us grew up in a happy home. Mom made sure every event was special whether it was a birthday, school event or Christmas. Our home was filled with love and prayer. Summer was a happy time; we played until dark. When Mom wanted us to come home she would stand on the back porch and yell at the top of her lungs, LISA, LANCE, LAURA and LATRISA -- SUPPER!!!! (The whole neighborhood knew the Wideners were getting ready to eat)

The most important thing of all was that we were raised in church. We were taught who God is and the importance of having a relationship with him. We all grew up going to the First Apostolic Church of Aurora. What a blessing! What a heritage to have and to be able to pass on to our children and grandchildren.

Mom and Dad always worked so hard to make a wonderful home for our family. If you walked into our home you would hear lots of laughter around the dinner table. Dad always worked hard to provide for our family and make sure we had all of the extras that we wanted. He came home at night after a long, hot day of working on construction equipment being sun burned, tired, and dirty. He always carried in his lunch bucket, and set it down in the kitchen so Mom could fill it up for the next day’s lunch. Mom always had a big dinner ready, and we loved being there together. They guided the four of us through childhood and teenage years (3 teenagers in one household at the same time along with a toddler) At times, life brought ups and downs and sometimes even tears, but our home was always filled to the brim with love.

Christmas was one of our favorite times at the Wideners. Mom and Dad always bought us LOTS of gifts. Lance could not wait to open presents. He was always up before everyone else, sneaking peeks of the presents under the tree. We have all inherited this Christmas craziness, and we still have enormous Christmases with LOTS of presents for everyone. It is insane how many gifts are there when we all get together. Another favorite memory is our big 4th of July celebrations with the Bryant’s…to celebrate LaTrisa’s birthday.

However, things quickly changed around our home. Lisa, Lance and Laura began having weddings of their own…and the empty nest started. It was very hard on Mom and Dad when the three older kids started homes of their own. But life quickly sweetened with the arrival of Amber Paige. Mom and Dad have always been the best parents, but they took being grandparents to a whole new level! The day Amber was born in 1979 Mom RAN from house to house in the neighborhood telling everyone she had arrived. Then came Amy and Leslie. Mom and Dad were ecstatic over their 3 granddaughters. Then Chad came and he taught everyone what being a boy all was about! Later, came Meaghan, Ammon and Evan. Mom and Dad were there for the birth of all the grandchildren, usually hovering around in the waiting room, sending up lots of prayers for the new addition. They were always so excited about adding more little ones to their family and had more love to share. During that time Dad, Mom, and LaTrisa moved to Plano, IL. Later Laura’s family moved around the corner from them. We have so many wonderful memories of the times in Plano.

Then, Mom had another big wedding to plan, and that was LaTrisa’s. This event was very bittersweet. Although it was a beautiful wedding day, LaTrisa moved away from the family to Jackson, TN. This was a very hard time for Mom and Dad after having everyone within minutes of their home. What a change. However, that change later brought the non-stop energy and excitement of Avery, Riley and Landry.

The grandkids have so many memories of their own. Grandma always planned big picnics throughout the summer with Papa cooking on the grill. Our nights included bubbles and sparklers, with Grandma having the most fun of all. One of their favorite memories is spending the night at Grandmas and waking up to big breakfasts of chocolate syrup and biscuits or homemade strawberry crepes, with fresh strawberries from Papa’s garden…IF Chad and Ammon had not picked and eaten them all.

Amy and Leslie always cried when it was time to go home from Grandma and Papa’s house. Without fail, Randy would always say that if they did not stop crying they were not going to come back anymore. This only made them cry harder. They all loved the long summer days of playing in Grandma and Papa’s swimming pool, and then sitting on the deck and eating snacks and popsicles while they were dripping wet. We always got together as a family to dye Easter eggs. Then the big Easter egg hunt where everyone got a turn hiding and finding them was always a fun hit.

Then came Mom and Dad’s big move to Tennessee. WHAT A CHANGE retirement brought. We were happy for them, but missed them in IL. This came with many phone calls back and forth several times a day. To this day we all talk to them on the phone several times a week. We love coming to their home in the Smokey Mountains. We are so thankful they have a home with many bedrooms and bathrooms. However, we still have big family gatherings in Tennessee. All four kids and many grandchildren were together at their home for this past Christmas. We all get down here every chance we get. And luckily, LaTrisa and Leslie’s familys have gotten to move to the area with them.

AND let’s not forget the fabulous five great grandkids, Gavin, Joseph, Kayla, Hailey, and Lucas. They are a joy to us all!

All our lives, we have known much love, prayers, family togetherness, lots of laughter and some tears along the way. Our family has had our share of pain and sadness, because of sickness, cancer, major injuries and scares down through the years. But through it all God has been with us, we have been bound together with love and it has kept us all close to each other no matter what came our way.

We are a blessed family.
2 people
4 children
4 spouses
12 grandchildren 3 grandson-in-laws
5 great grand children
50 years
ONE GREAT BIG LEGACY!