LITTLE CURRENT—They met in Grade 7 in elementary school, but little did the future Bruce and Helen Gordon know their friendship would extend into high school and beyond, leading to a life together celebrating 64 years this coming July. Bruce lived in rural Billings where his father was a teacher while the then Helen Harper moved with her family to Kagawong from Silver Water.
“We’ve been best friends for a long time,” laughed Ms. Gordon. There is no mistaking that laughter is a regular feature of the Gordon household, but more on that later.
Mr. Gordon would travel regularly into Kagawong from the Murrow’s farm on his bicycle to visit Helen and, like many Island couples, they bonded at the dances held regularly in Island communities in the ‘50s.
Mr. Gordon eventually proposed to his future wife, but the couple made a practical decision first. “Bruce bought a car, a brand new 1958 bronze-coloured Volkswagon bug (Beetle), oh my, the times we had in that car,” recalled Ms. Gordon. “But we decided that he would buy the car first. We got married a year later.”
“The car cost $1,800 and he bought it new in Sudbury,” said Ms. Gordon. “His father drove us over to pick it up.” Those of an age will recall the spartan interiors of the old Volkswagon Beetles. “We loved that old car.”
The wedding took place on July 10, 1959 at the United Church in Kagawong.
“We took off in that bug for our honeymoon,” said Ms. Gordon. The couple’s honeymoon was very much a traditional affair, but with something of a travelling twist.
“We went to Niagara Falls,” said Ms. Gordon. “But on the way down I had my picture taken with every Hydro station along the way.” Mr. Gordon had recently been taken on by Ontario Hydro and the ever-patient newlywed wife obliged her new husband’s photo essay efforts.
The couple would go on to have three children, spaced evenly at three years apart. Bonnie (Cook), the eldest a familiar face at Little Current Public School, followed by Chris, now an electrical engineer in Sudbury and then daughter Sherry. “Sherry is an OPP officer in Elliot Lake,” said Ms. Gordon. “Retired now,” rejoined her husband. Four grandchildren have since been joined by four great grandchildren (with a fifth on the way).
The car’s memory lives on in the form of a ceramic figurine holding place of honour in the living room display case. “It was the same colour,” chuckled Mr. Gordon. “But without the rust spots.”
But once the family began to grow, the venerable bug had to give way to a more family-capacity vehicle. “It would have been lovely to have been able to keep it,” said Ms. Gordon. “But that wasn’t practical. You had to trade up.”
Once the children were grown up, the Gordons set out on several trips, many across Canada, but plenty overseas as well. Although they have taken in a couple of cruises, their trips tended to be land-based. “I like taking time to visit the country more,” said Ms. Gordon. Opportunities to travel abroad abounded with the couple’s involvement with the Shriners (Mr. Gordon can be found outside local grocery stores at Christmastime with the famous Shriner’s cakes, cookies and other goodies) and the Daughters of the Eastern Star.
Although they usually take trips together, there was one exception—hunting season.
“Marg Hore, I and a group of the girls decided we were going to Myrtle Beach one year for hunting season,” said Ms. Gordon. “There were six of us.
Ms. Hore and her husband Norm have often been travelling companions of the Gordons. One of their favourite trips was an exploration of the Baltic Sea, where they visited a number of Scandinavian countries. Their 50th anniversary was a trip to Hawaii. Another was a venture through the Panama Canal on the occasion of that passage’s 100th anniversary.
The couple will be celebrating their 64th anniversary this coming July.
When it comes to what the couple will be doing this Valentines Day, Ms. Gordon said they do not usually do very much in the way of special celebrations. “We might have a dinner,” she said. “Usually, we give each other a card. Some years it’s the same card,” laughed Ms. Gordon. “It depends on what’s available.”
As to what advice the couple offers up to new couples these days, in a word, it is patience—on both sides.
“Always talk it through,” said Ms. Gordon. “Keeping going and think young.”
