Laurel’s Story
Hope and Promise
She was 16 when they married. He was 22. Laurel’s parents supported their marriage but it was difficult for them not having their daughter at home. Looking back on her life, Laurel would say that getting married was one of her better decisions.
Married life started out with the hope and promise of building a life and family together. They wasted no time. Not only did Laurel get married at 16 but she also got pregnant.
Laurel’s husband, Richard, was often gone either working or in the Naval reserves. With her family just a few miles away and her husband’s family a few blocks away, Laurel had a solid support system. She remembers 1959 as a time when there were always friends and family around her. Laurel’s sisters and brother were among her best friends.
The Drinking Started
Laurel grew up in Downey, California where she met Richard. When Laurel was 19 her father was killed while driving in the San Bernardino mountains. It is easy to take mountain roads for granted and it is just as easy to forget how little visitors understand those mountain roads. No one knows who went over the center yellow line but it was no contest between the truck and the little Triumph sports car that Laurel’s dad was in.
Laurel’s father was in the cabinet business along with his three other brothers. The four of them had built three cabins in Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear. Laurel’s dad was on the way to a meeting with his brothers at their Lake Arrowhead cabin when the accident occurred.
Laurel was too young to enter bars, but this is when the drinking started.
After her father’s death, Laurel’s mom moved to the San Bernardino mountains where her husband had died. She opened a sewing shop next to the Dime store in Blue Jay, CA. Laurel, age 20, followed with Richard and their 3 babies.
10 years into their marriage, Laurel and Richard were alcoholics. Not only were they drinking heavily, they were also driving those same winding mountain roads that killed Laurel’s dad many years before. Laurel said it was a miracle no one was hurt or killed.
The drinking for Laurel and Richard had become a serious problem. They just didn’t know it. When they were evicted for not paying their rent, they should have realized the depth of their problem. But they didn’t.
For more than a week they lived in their car by the lake. It sounds like fun unless you have three kids and no place to live. While the children remember it as a fun time at the lake, Laurel and Richard knew better. Richard was able to get enough money for a hotel room off the hill. He drove up the mountain every day to work and eventually they saved enough money to rent another home.
Laurel and Richard had child number 4 but they continued drinking. All four of Laurel and Richard’s children grew up making the same poor choices their parents did.
It wasn’t until they became guardians of their granddaughter that they quit drinking.
A Life Changing Event
After 30 years of marriage, a life changing event was about to transform their lives.
On their way home from a car show in Nevada, Laurel and Richard were arguing. Laurel says it was an argument about nothing but she did not want to be with Richard and asked to be dropped off at Harvest church. Laurel knew her kids would bring her home. Richard was glad to get rid of her for a while. Although she had never been to this church, the service intrigued Laurel. It was not as stiff and formal as the church she remembered.
When the Harvest crusade came, Laurel went with her kids. The theme of the crusade was called Summer Harvest. The first night of the crusade, Laurel came home happy. That made Richard think Laurel was cheating on him, so he decided to go the next night.
At the service the next night, Richard learned that Laurel wasn’t looking for another man. Instead, he gave his life to Jesus Christ along with one of their daughters and her husband.
Laurel resisted accepting this faith. It took reading the bible and going to bible studies to understand that she could be born again; born of the Spirit, and have a personal relationship with the only Living God of the Universe.
Once she accepted this knowledge, Laurel began to change. As Laurel and Richard changed, so did their children. Within a couple of months, each of their children gave their life to Christ.
5 More Years
45 years into their marriage, Laurel’s husband, Richard was diagnosed with stage 4 Multiple Myeloma. He was 67 years old. Laurel had to quit working to take care of him. The doctors said he only had 6 months to live. God gave him 5 more years. Laurel said those years were filled with bible studies every day and lots of time together. Richard was the only man in her life and she loved him deeply.
Life for Laurel and Richard encompassed 50 years. They wanted to build a life and family together and that is what they did. Though there were many poor and outright bad decisions, Laurel sees the hand of the God she now loves watching over her even when she didn’t know Him. She sees that it was a living and loving God who protected them while they drove drunk on mountain roads. It was that same God who provided for them when they didn’t have a place to stay. And it was that same God who transformed their lives and the lives of their children. It is still that same God who is transforming lives through the work of each of the children that the Lord gave to Laurel and her husband.
Thirty years have passed since their transformation and more than 60 years since her marriage to Richard. 3 out of their 4 children serve in ministry. Their oldest son is an associate pastor and has battled esophageal cancer. Their two daughters each serve in ministry. One of their daughters struggled with tumors and underwent surgery to remove them including one on her spine. Because of the Covid Pandemic, her family could not be with her during surgery and recovery. Their fourth child, a son, followed his dad’s footsteps into cabinetry and construction. Each of them has a unique story.
An Epic Journey
Do you want to know Laurel’s regrets? We all have them. She regrets more than 20 years of drinking. She wishes she had been born again earlier in life. Laurel also wishes that she had been a better mom. Loving others more is another change she would make if she could. Most of all, Laurel regrets not spending more time laughing with her husband, more time hugging and laying with him instead of worrying about cleaning, cooking, and fussing over dumb stuff.
Laurel’s is a story worth telling because it is a story of an epic journey through life to eternity. It is a story we all share. The details may be different, but the struggle is the same. It is the struggle of life lived out in good choices, bad choices, and the unknowns we all face. Through it all is Jesus Christ witnessing of the life and wholeness He has to offer.
This is Laurel’s story but your story is just as important. You too are on an epic journey. Jesus Christ is lighting the way for you. Can you see Him?