by Stephanie Brown --
Those that know me well know I am truly a lover of a good romance book or movie. I have read or watched such great love stories like Gone with the Wind and The Notebook so many times I can pretty well quote the pages or the script. However, something that is nearer and dearer to my heart, yes even more so than the characters Scarlett and Rhett and Noah and Allie, is when the love story is about two people you actually know, and are family. Recently, we were blessed to hear the love story of Terry’s parents Earl and Susie Brown.
It all began with a boxed lunch auction at Dixon Elementary School. When farmer boy from Lisman heard that the lunch prepared by Susie Mooney was up next he began reaching into his pockets for money. Susie’s boxed lunch was a popular one so Earl Brown paid a whole entire five dollars( he swears every penny he had to his name) to own it. For five dollars, Earl got the boxed lunch made up of a potted meat sandwich, a bag of chips, a sweet treat, and an apple. This apple would be the only thing the nervous teenage boy could actually eat, as he also got to sit with Susie after his purchase. Everyone that knows and loves this couple knows he must have been really nervous.
Not only is Susie a great baker of sweets , but also Earl has always had a huge sweet tooth. He must have had major butterflies in his stomach to pass up one of Susie’s delicious treats. After Earl finished the apple, he asked if he could take then fifteen year old Susie home. Not only did she agree, but Earl also had to take her little brother home as well as Susie. After attending countless ball games and watching movies at the local drive-ins, this couple was engaged and later wed a year after that boxed lunch purchase on January 24,1964. 
After surviving six house moves, purchasing ten cars and six trucks, raising two sons, feeding countless pet dogs as well strays and enjoying four grandchildren, this couple has stayed together through it all for fifty years.
Something to celebrate for sure…. Especially treasured in today’s world. But it took a bit of convincing Earl by sons Terry and Craig to have this golden celebration, so time became a factor.
Could a 50th wedding reception be planned, decorated, and enjoyed in just three short weeks?
I am happy and pleased to say thanks to some wonderful reception resources (many of them right here in Webster County) Earl and Susie Brown’s reception was beautiful and will always be a day not only they will remember but also their family and friends.