Chip and Joanna Gaines are busy soaking up as much family time as possible before two of their five children are out of the nest this fall.
Joanna posted a rare video on Instagram of the whole family celebrating her mom’s birthday at a restaurant. The video shows a large family gathering, including Chip and Jo’s kids. In the caption, Jo wrote, “Happiest of birthdays to my beautiful mother ❤️✨❤️”
Nan Stevens just turned 78, and she and Jo’s dad Jerry have been married more than 50 years.
Joanna Gaines Has Shared Her Parents’ Love Story
Joanna Gaines has said in the past that she takes inspiration from her parents’ love story.
Chip and Joanna Gaines celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary May 31, but they’ve been getting ready for it for a lot longer, as an adorable new video Joanna posted on Instagram shows.
The video features Chip and Jo taking dance lessons, whirling, twirling and Texas two-stepping in a large, open room with concrete floors. In the caption, Joanna writes, “❤️ T W E N T Y T W O Y E A R S ❤️We’ve loved turning our date nights into dance nights. We are going to need quite a few more lessons but this is so much fun! Thanks for you patience, @dancewaco 😉”
The couple have an example of lasting love in Joanna’s parents.
According to Joanna, Nan and Jerry Stevens met in 1969. In a 2017 Instagram post celebrating their 45th anniversary, Joanna wrote, “My parents met in 1969 when my dad was stationed in Korea and their story is one you hear about in the movies. All the odds were against them but they fought through.”
In her book, “The Magnolia Story,” Joanna wrote that Jerry and Nan met at a party in Seoul, South Korea. Nan spotted Jerry sitting by himself and told a friend, “That’s the man I’m going to marry.”
Joanna & Her Mom Talk Love Stories on Jo’s Podcast
Joanna Gaines went deeper into her mom’s love story in an episode of her podcast, “The Stories We Tell Each Other.”
In 2022, the mother-daughter pair sat down to discuss the pair meeting at a party. When her mom hedged on details, Jo said, “Oh, who cares, everybody knows. She likes the Beatles — it was a pot party. It’s fine.”
Nan related that she and Jerry started spending time together after the party, but then it was time for him to return to America. Two weeks before his departure, he told her, “I think I’m in love with you.” Jerry moved back to the U.S. and the two kept up a long-distance relationship.
Eventually, Jerry sent her a plane ticket and asked her to marry him. Even though their families didn’t initially approve, they got married in San Francisco during the summer of 1972.
Joanna Says She Learned From Her Parents’ Struggles
But the love story didn’t immediately land in “happily ever after” territory.
In “The Magnolia Story,” Joanna shares that the couple started their marriage fighting constantly. “There were times, they say, when they didn’t think they would make it because all they did was fight,” Joanna wrote.
In their podcast discussion, Joanna shared more, saying, “The first year was rough because Dad was into drugs.”
But then Jerry’s mother died, and it was a wakeup call. “He envisioned himself in a casket, with his family surrounding him, and it hit him just how wrongly he was living his life,” Joanna wrote in “The Magnolia Story.” “He knew he didn’t want to end up in that casket the way he envisioned, leaving my mom alone to fend for herself.”
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Chip & Joanna Gaines Celebrate Example of Lasting Love