Henry Hansen Story
He did get to take Jeff two years as well as Ronnie Roberts, Josh Hawley and Red Thompson's granddaughter. He tried to take his beloved Angel but it didn't work out. They began each year with a one night trip, out near Vernonia, to work out any problems. That first year he planned to ride Angel. So off they went. In two days he was home completely disgusted. Angel was a leader, not a follower. He would not settle down and Hank fought him all the way. He went sideways all the way up the mountain, and all the way back. He wanted to 'head' that wagon train. Well instead he had to stay home and Hank rode his Dodge truck. After a week on the trail he would come home filthy and happy.
His best years were when he could trailer his horse and Susan's to the beach (or anywhere) and just ride. Susan later on developed a severe allergy and could no longer ride and Dawn Probst moved and he had a harder time finding riding companions. None of our other children had any interest in horses. Susan was born wanting one and so he had one child with his interest. A book could be written about our horses, Old Ben and Angel were the favorites but there were several others (I'll let Susan write that book). It was important to Hank to just own one and he never regretted the cost of hay or shoes or saddles etc. nor the work they took. He loved those animals and his pony, Star.
We had a few dogs, Pogo was the first, then Toast and Cocoa and then finally Wolf. 'Woffie' was really Dean's dog. He was supposed to be fierce but was gentle and obedient and intelligent and became Hank's good friend. He never cared too much for dogs and surely not cats, but Woofie was such a good dog and we had him here most of his long years and I can see them yet walking together back and forth to the barn and for wood or for any of a hundred reasons. Two old 'men' enjoying the quieter years after Hank's health began finally to fail. Woof went wherever he did and was a great companion.
Hank was still working but not with the enthusiasm of his earlier years. In 1980 the country had a recession which was especially severe (in Oregon) on the building trades. The phone stopped ringing and the builders kinda drifted away--or retired, as many he had known finally reached that age and work just stopped. Hank began to sleep long periods. It was somewhere along about this time that he discovered a tremor in his hand. It worried him some but he thought it was due to the heavy block he was laying. To hold a 50 lb block out at arms length and slowly lower it onto a wall all day long is hard work--and he did a lot of small commercial block jobs. I don't recall who he saw first but did go to a local doctor finally. He was then sent to Dr. John Nutt at the medical school who diagnosed Parkinson's disease. This was a severe blow to a man in his early 50's who had the ambition that he had. He tried ignoring the whole thing. He was told to stop work but would not. It was only after a couple of years that he realized what could happen. He began falling, would lose his balance very easily and go down. And because his work was often on top of a scaffold or a roof, he was afraid he'd kill himself and his insurance wouldn't pay if he disobeyed doctor's orders. And it was getting harder and harder to get through the day. He had employed many men during his career but it was only Dean that was working at the end. If I remember correctly, there may have been a hod-carrier. Dean had indeed been a partner in his adult years--had learned the trade and was ambitious and a willing worker.
Back up a bit. After the recession eased, work was sporadic and Hank's energy level was lower so he enjoyed the days off. He was much involved in Church 'activities' and once again, finally, decided to do some work on the house. He built 3 fireplace (faces) over the years, remodeled and added to various parts of the house. But in 1986 it was the kitchen that I wanted most. He finally told me to pick out any style that I wanted and did a total kitchen--everything (he had mellowed a great deal since the first building of this home). We bought all new appliances, except dishwasher. These were all 'working' appliances,just old and bad color (avocado green). Before he finished he said you'd better look at that dishwasher again and I did and it looked bad next to everything new so out it went. He was so eager to please! And worked so hard. He 'dropped' the ceiling and wired ceiling alone took a month to finish. He never once complained about the cost--only told me that I could have it any way I wanted as long as it didn't involve an outside wall. They quit making these brick many years ago and when we added the living room those brick had to be 'special made' and if you look carefully you can see the difference--they are not perfect. This was in 1986 and the cost of the kitchen was somewhere in the neighborhood of $17,000, which was more that twice what the original HOUSE cost!
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More and more he had to accept the fact that he had a disease and one that was progressing. All his positive attitude and ignoring didn't make it go away. He was 58 years old when he came home one day and said that's it, and hung up his trowel. It was a difficult decision and made more so by having to apply for disability (Social Security) and not at all sure that he'd get it. There was a 6 month waiting period with no payment at all. My memory is that his union pension didn't pay at first either--though eventually that money came in one large check then regular monthly checks thereafter. We got by fine because we had no debts--had made that decision early in our marriage and stuck to it and have never regretted it. Our income was never very large but was always adequate. Hank never tried to make 'money'--he tried to build the best brickwork that he could at competitive prices and keep all the bills payed. He was frugal in ways and spent easily and freely in others. He was an easy touch for anyone needing a little help.
Dealing with the imbalance problem was hard for him and for me to watch. He had always had such good balance--could ride a bicycle backwards, built and rode a unicycle. He began to shuffle when he walked--a Parkinsons symptom. He found he could run not walk, and so he ran and explained that his 'slow' gear was 'out.' But running got him in trouble when he fell--badly smashing his face and teeth on one occasion. He was frustrated by store clerks who would offer to carry his (small) packages to the car--he looked so frail but really wasn't, so he would say "I may be old but I'm not dead yet," then run out of the store. He began to gather wood and spent any spare hour chopping up anything from logs which he ordered by the 'logging truck' load to any tree or limb or bush that he could drag home. Anyone clearing property got a visit from Hank. He stacked wood everywhere and would cut up small branches no larger than a finger to use for kindling. But the piles and piles of those small pieces were a real mess in the basement and I tried to talk him out of that, especially in the spring when I looked forward to cleaning out all the wood mess--he would stockpile clear to the ceiling no matter what I said. He worked so hard splitting and carrying those logs to build up his strength but it just didn't seem to help.
Those were his wagon train years. Also those were the years he got involved and interested in the theater. He had given up movies (after John Wayne's death) but would go to live musical theater with me. "Joseph and the Amazing Color Dreamcoat" was his favorite and I think we saw about a dozen of those productions. We were in the Lake Oswego Stake at that time and they had a group of people who loved theater and wanted to participate in it. He was the perfect activities leader. He would work with them throughout the whole production. Building anything they needed, hauling it to and from anywhere, attending every meeting and rehearsal--scouting out any prop that was necessary. And he loved it. They did "Pirates of Penzance, "Joseph" and "Hello Dolly"--which was after the Stake had been divided and we were no longer in it! They still needed him and he was most willing to work with them. Were there other shows? He had many other programs--it's hard to recall them all. He arranged for a symphony orchestra from Ricks College. He planned civic work parties, camping trips, Ward barbecues, dances, celebrations for any holiday season or event that needed celebrating. His schedule was full and demanding and he loved it all. And they seemed to love and appreciate him fully. After an especially impressive dinner-dance program they paid tribute to him and gave him a long standing ovation. They had to accept the fact that he could no longer keep up that pace and he was released from his Ward calling. Then his Stake calling also went. He still served on the High Council and was given duties that he could handle for as long as he could. It was a sad day indeed when he had to tell Paul Roberts that he could no longer do his duties in that position. He cried and so did Paul and I. He still attempted to complete his home teaching each month and that wasn't so easy. He had always carried a roster of hard to reach inactive members to home-teach. He had the patience to work with them, no matter how reluctant they were.
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