Henry Hansen Story
We found water easily enough and we used that well for a long time, then down the hill dug another, which we switched to. Our water supply was never very good and it was a great relief to both of us where we got city water. I swore I'd never complain about paying the water bill and I haven't. For a wedding present we received a young heifer about to 'freshen' or have her first calf. So right away we began to milk, or rather Hank did. Somehow I never learned how. My mother had always told me that if you learn how, pretty soon you'll be doing it and I'm sure that is exactly how it would have been. As he grew busier and busier it became harder and harder to get that cow milked. He awoke one night (in the middle of the night) and realized the cow hadn't been milked. He had to get up and do it. That was when he sold the milk cow but that was many years down the road.
Hank was working for Mason Contractor Monte Smallen as a hod carrier. He wanted to be a brick layer and Monte promised him that apprenticeship. Yet the months went by and nothing was happening. On one job there was a plaster contractor who watched Hank work and liked what he saw and offered him an apprenticeship as a plasterer. It didn't really matter to him which trade he learned so he went to Monte and told him of the offer. Monte said "give me one day" and he went to the apprentice board and got permission to start Hank out as a bricklayer apprentice--$1.25 an hour, which was only about â…“ as much as he was making as a hod carrier. And he had to attend school on Saturdays. He was thrilled non-the-less, and began right away.
It was very little money to begin a family and build a home. I don't think Hank doubted for a moment what he was undertaking. He was a tireless worker in every way. He began to moonlight. He did brick work on weekends, days off and evenings, whenever he could. We took no vacations, bought no luxuries, sold milk and eggs, raised our own meat, gave real meaning to frugal living. Movies were our entertainment--he did like the movies, especially John Wayne, and he came home every night ready and willing to go if there was no brick job waiting him.
At that time the Durham School was the center of this community and there were frequent fun times there that we all took part in. Carnivals, dinners, dances, volleyball, card parties, softball--we had great neighbors and they became our good friends. Bob and Ruth Gilmore are still here (1996) but all the others have moved on. I still hear from several of them occasionally. Delbert and Virginia Sands, Bernard and Helen Warner (both of those marriages have ended in divorce), Joanne and Don Moore, Jessie and Ralph Flowers, Clyde and Maxine Smith (divorce), Gus and Angela Williams, Ed and Barbara Jones, Alice Carlson, the Wallschlagers, Maggie Hikemper, the old timers and the young couples. It didn't seem to make any difference, we were friends with all. Rose and Jim Bishop, Sophie Smith, Marvin and Margaret Smith, the Stobbies, the Touseys--many others. We were the young kids--newest in the neighborhood but welcome by all and felt very much a part of everything. As I write this now I and the Gillmors are all of that gang left in this area, though Frances Tousey is still in Pinebrook.
I was, and still am, a 'stay at home' person but Hank never was. He socialized all over the neighborhood and the community. He was ever a 'people person' and was only really happy when he was involved with somebody and the more the merrier. He had several horses throughout our marriage and if nothing else was going on he could always ride up and down the street (called Bishop Lane at that time) and find somebody to talk to. He never really had the toys of a normal child I think but he made up for that as an adult. He bought toys--adult toys--and it drove me crazy. Horses, boats, canoes, motor bikes, skis, burros, guns, campers, hunting equipment of all kind, pick-up trucks and everything that went with them, CD radios, etc, etc. His first pickup was a 41 Ford that he bought from Monte and it needed a lot of transmission work. It had to be double clutched and that was the family car (he sold our nice Chevy to pay for the truck, which he had to have to work). That was the vehicle I learned to drive and I did much complaining I can assure you. He paid $800 for the Chevy, $500 for the Ford.
Hank's favorite toy of his later years was his pony, Star. If his grandchildren remember him at all (the younger ones) it will be because of Star. She was a gentle and willing pony and he shared her with not only 'our' children but also any child he met--anywhere. He built a cart and was becoming famous for his pony rides when one day he thought to check with his insurance company.
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Well! That ended that! He continued however to show her off to all and to give rides to his grandchildren. Star died after a couple of years--a tragedy and he tried desperately to save her with the help of several of his young friends. It about broke his heart. He still had his Angel, a big white horse that was his joy for many years-but that is later on.
Somehow, here, I've skipped over most of our married life so will go back to our early years though how to describe them. I do not know. Hank had goals even before we knew what goals were! He intended to work for himself, to build his own home and to have plenty of fun along the way. And to raise a family. I just went along for the ride-never gave much thought to what the future would be. Our first baby was born 9 months after our wedding--didn't lose any time--and that 8 lb 10 oz boy was the delight of our world. David was a big happy baby as thrilled to be here apparently as we were to have him and willing to entertain the world. His grandparents doted on him-he was the first grandchild on my side. (Hank's father had moved to California after the death of his wife, so he wasn't around) but my mother was a super loving and silly grandma. We applauded every move he made. A typical example was in the matter of potty training. He was somewhere between 18 to 24 months and the effort we made worked. He was trained! We were at my parents home and sitting in the kitchen with company when David had to go. He was very late talker so he didn't say a word (couldn't), just set his little enamel pot right in the middle of everybody, along with a roll of toilet tissue, pulled down his little pants and peed a circle right around that pot (never touched it) then took a long string of toilet tissue and made a swipe past his little backside then threw it and danced with happiness at the applause! We loved it and so did he! So did the company!
Hank was a born father and couldn't wait to begin. At that time, hospital policy was very different--daddies weren't needed nor appreciated. They kept me for 9 days and it was a frustrating time for Hank who wanted to get his hands on his baby. Nine days was 'normal' then. When the big day came to leave the nurse dressed the baby right in front of us and wouldn't let him help, though he never quit trying, she was a tough old veteran and knew how to stay between him and his baby. But she had her hands full. Daddies couldn't touch until you got out the door! What a crazy rule. Anyway David fussed all the way home and I couldn't seem to make him happy, so at every red light or stop street Hank would grab him and croon-cuddle-sooth him until he had to turn him back to me. He had been born into a large family and had all kinds of experience and I had none. He had a natural love for babies, one he never lost. And they responded to him, always, wherever we were I could find him with the baby if there was one to be found. As a young father his Sunday clothes always had 'baby' smears on them, but I didn't find that so amusing. After we had no more babies his Sunday clothes (suit) still had baby goo.
Sunday clothes were no problem those first years--we had no church nor Sabbath day observance. We, or he, worked. If not on the job then on our house. We both dreaded debt and for good reason-his work was pretty seasonal, never dependable as an apprentice or at any other dip in the general economy. So we tried to pay as we went on everything including the house. First we saved enough to buy a plan--moderate in size and no wasted space (like a hallway which I thought was a good idea). He used to say to me "what do you want?" and after hearing my reply would answer "well this is what you're going to get!" After many years of that kind of conversation, I grew reluctant to answer but he would insist and generally the reply was the same. So we argued our way through the building of our home. We bought the blocks and dug and built the basement, complete with a laundry room, shower and bathroom FIRST--a great relief to me. If I were doing this on a computer I could move things around and keep the order of things. As it is I'm at the mercy of my memory and it keeps jumping ahead. Actually the first thing Hank built, after digging the well, was a barn for the heifer, who soon became a cow, and a fence. I have to mention this because one neighbor at least was very indignant that he would build a barn first--she would have let that cow spend the winter outdoors. But I felt it was what we had to do. We saved a hundred dollars and bought material and just kept plugging away. The house is block 4", 2" dead air and 4" brick sitting on a 10" concrete block foundation. The men who put the oil line in had to drill a hole through those blocks and it took hours and they made the comment that this house must be built for the millennium. At that time I hardly knew what that was. Over the years I became aware that the first thing to go in an earthquake was the brickwork, and since we had a pretty severe one in the spring of 1993 I kind of fussed about that until he finally said through clenched teeth "not the way I built this one" which was some comfort to me after watching the news broadcasts of the various disastrous earthquakes I expected to find myself in a pile of rubble. So far so good!
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