Category Archives: Hanson Family

Family History Friday (FHF): Times Were Hard!

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It doesn’t take long
to write down a memory.
Especially if you write them down one memory at a time.
The following is one of the stories my dad told about his dad, my grandpa. It such a simple, but sweet story of sacrifice and love. It is one of my favorite stories about my grandpa. I never knew him. He died when I was five. We lived in Utah, and grandpa lived in Washington State at the time. Since I didn’t know him, I’m grateful my dad wrote the stories down. Now,
we’ll all know him!!
“I had some good memories of Dad and of some of the sacrifices he made for his family. I can remember as a little boy in the late 1930’s, the effects of the depression were still very much apparent. They were hard times, and Dad just made enough money each day to take care of the expenses of the day. There was never any extra, and so each night after work, Dad brought home the groceries that Mom made supper with. In the wintertime, it was especially hard. Dad would have to walk home from work at the cleaning and tailor shop where he worked and stop on the way to get a few groceries. We lived about a mile west of town along Highway 10. I remember as a child, along with some of my brothers and sisters, scratching the ice off the inside of the window so we could see out, and then pressing our noses against the window to see if we could see Dad coming down the highway. Minnesota winters were very cold and when Dad walked in the door he was quite a sight. The cold wind would cause his eyes to water, but because he had groceries in his hands he couldn’t wipe the tears from his eyes and so they would form icicles on his eyelashes. His nose, too, would run and icicles would also hang from his nose.
(This isn’t grandpa, it’s Ernest Shackleton, but notice the frosty beard)

Mom would have her wood stove all fired up to cook one of her wonderful suppers out of the simplest fair. They were difficult times, but I have a lot of fond memories from them.”

I think it is amazing that grandpa had to work each day for the food grandma would prepare for the family to eat that night. My grandparents were strong people. Like I always say….if they can do what they did, I can do what I need to do in my life. I love them, I love grandpa. Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Heirlooms!

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Most people have special things that they have accumulated in their lives. They’re usually calledfamily heirlooms. My parents and their parents are no exception. One thing that my parents did that I will always be grateful for, is this; they divided almost all the heirlooms up about six years ago. After moving from an almost 4500 square foot home to a two bedroom apartment, they didn’t have room for all the stuff, and felt like it was a great time to share with their children, all six of us. Dad opened up the garage and let all my brothers and my husband take a turn picking a tool to keep, till all the tools were gone. Mom, gave us our choice of what we wanted. If I wanted something the most, and no one else cared as much about that item as I did, it was mine. There were things that I wanted, that were not on the top of my list, but they were on the top of one of my brothers list, it became theirs. And guess what? I’m OK with it. Some things, like special pieces, my parents chose who they wanted it to go to. When they’re standing in front of all of you, telling you who they want it to go to, there most definitely won’t be a quarrel. I have heard of families becoming enemies over “things”. My parents are still living six years later, and if you were to talk to them about it, they would say how much they have enjoyed watching us enjoying our heirlooms. If you think of “the grand scheme”, things are not the most important anyway. We can’t take them with us, and they can be lost in the blink of an eye, but the bond of family and the love will last forever, if nurtured. I love my family. Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Mom

Dad

Family History Friday

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I’ve decided to have every Friday be a Family History post. Those who know me, know that I love Family History. Some people don’t know what Family History is. Well, it’s like genealogy, learning about your roots, but more about the history of our ancestors. I love these people, because I know them. I know life is better because of them. I enjoy getting to know them by reading their histories, and learning about how life was in the places they lived. So what I plan to do is talk about one of my ancestors or a Family History topic every Friday. Have an open mind and you may be bit by the Family History bug, too!!
I thought I would tell you my favorite way to keep my Family History organized. I am a visual person. One of my objectives in organizing my Family History is, first, so I can find the information I’m looking for when I’m researching, but also, anyone can find the information. So, here it is- I color code my ancestors. I know it’s not a new thing, but it works for me! To start out with, I use only the primary colors, plus green. Green in not technically a primary color. So, I have four grand parents. Most of us do. Some may have more if they have blended families. Then I pick a color of out of the primary colors plus green that reminds me of my grandparent or of the place they are from. So, my paternal grandfather is blue, they came from Norway. It is a country surrounded by the ocean and is very cold. My paternal grandmother is green. They are Native American, and came from the Great Lakes area. They were Woodland Indians. My maternal grandfather is red. They came from Wales and England. They were miners and life was very hard. My maternal grandmother is yellow. They are also from England and the Channel Islands, in the English Channel. They were pioneers. They joined the LDS church and came across the American plains, sacrificing much, sometimes everything. In doing my organizing in this way, I know at a glance which family names belong together. If you’d like, pick a color for your grandparents. Use this color by putting it somewhere on each piece of paper or document that pertains to that family. Good luck! Happy Family History Friday!!!