Tonight, I found a box that had some old photos from Bob's family. I'm pretty excited to go through them although I don't know the history or family stories like I do about my family. I'm hoping some of Bob's family will see these photos and fill in the history with their memories. I'm also hoping to pass some of these amazing photos on to Hansen family members. So, Hansens, speak up!
This is Granny and Papa. I knew Granny for four years before she passed away. Granny was wonderful. She was really sweet and a little salty at the same time, which completely endeared her to me. I never saw Granny once in those four years that she wasn't smiling and laughing about something. She was amazing. Papa passed away before I joined the family but I can imagine from the little I know, that he was pretty great as well. Papa was Grannys second husband. She had lost her first husband when she was still a young woman with two small children. When she married Papa, they had another child, my father-in-law, Robert Leo Hansen. I have Granny and Papa's photo from the day they were engaged in a little frame on my kitchen counter. I can't help but smile every time I look at it. They left quite a wonderful heritage behind, including my best friend, their grandson, Bob. I hope they know that.
I adore this picture! This is Granny's daughter Mildred or Auntie M holding her baby brother, Rob, my father-in-law. Auntie M was so much like Granny, sweet and salty and always smiling and laughing. What a great laugh she had! I can still hear it when I think of her. She adored Rob and was such a good sister to him all the years I knew her. Two memories I will always treasure regarding Auntie M are the cards she wrote and the calls she made just to check in on us and gab. I saved every card and letter from her because they were never just signed, they were full reports of her daily life. If the card was for a birthday, guaranteed there were three brand new dollar bills inside. Every time. Bob was born on her 40th birthday so she always referred to him as the birthday stealer but he still got a card every year. One of the hardest parts of Auntie M passing away was not receiving those cards full of her life reports. Written words are such treasures. I'm so grateful for all the treasure Auntie M left us. I miss her.
These are Granny and Papa's three children, Rob, my father-in-law, Auntie M and Uncle Bud. Uncle Bud and Auntie M doted on Rob and had the best stories of when he was a kid. They loved telling about hiding Easter eggs for Rob to find. They had convinced him that he would know the Easter Bunny was there when he heard the bunny saying, "Eek! Eek!" After hiding the eggs, Auntie M and Uncle Bud would hide outside Rob's window yelling, "Eek! Eek!" and then run like hell before he made it outside. Of course, Rob would find the eggs convinced by his older siblings he had just missed the bunny. I must have heard the three siblings tell this story a hundred times but the best part was how they told it like it just happened and then would all three laugh hysterically, squeaking "Eek! Eek!" at each other. It was hilarious.
Robert Leo Hansen. Part of the greatest generation. Also, one of the greatest father-in-laws. He had a wicked sense of humor and loved his family well. Later, when Bob and I married, our two fathers became the best of friends. Rob and Lucy moved just a few miles from my parents and they spent a lot of time together. The last few years, Rob drove to my parents almost every morning to pick up my dad so they could go to breakfast. They would help each other on projects and do guy things together. They were ridiculous in the way they teased one another. When Rob passed away unexpectedly, it was the third time in my life I had ever seen my dad cry. I'm so grateful Bob was my one and his family was a part of the package deal.
The cutie on the far right is my mother-in-law, Lucile Davenport, before she married Rob. I believe this is her senior year at Hollywood High School. Lucy married Rob the day before he shipped out with the Navy during WWII. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for her. Rob returned safely home where they built a house and filled it with two children, Carolyn Marie and Robert Einar. After Carol was born, Lucy contracted polio and spent a year in an iron lung. She later went on to have Bob and was the first iron lung patient to successfully carry a baby to delivery. Lucy was always so kind to me and accepting. I'm sure it wasn't easy for her to see her only baby son get mixed up with the likes of me and my crazy family but she hid it well. I will always be grateful for the kindness she showed to me when I needed it the most.
Rob and Lucy in their backyard in Inglewood, California.
Rob and his dad, Papa, built the house where they would live for decades and raise their family.
Granny and Papa holding Bob. Go back and look at the picture of Auntie M holding Rob. It looks like the same fatty McFatterson baby!! I love it! I'm so grateful for the Hansen family and I'm so happy to be a Hansen. My advice to single people? Look at the family of the person you're interested in. These are the people that will be a part of your life forever, good, bad or indifferent. They are also the ones that have made the person you're interested in who they are. You can only hold crazy together for so long so choose wisely. I chose wisely.
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