Lanette’s Blog: Memories of Grandma

How lucky am I to have been loved by her? My grandma, Evelyn Hansen, passed away last week. She was 97 years old and, man. . . did she live every single second of those 35,000+ days. Growing up, my memories of her are filled with laughter, cooking, baking, gardening, card and game playing, and family meals. It’s been so amazing to have been able to get to know her for so long as an adult, because I’ve watched her embrace so many things I wouldn’t have realized otherwise. When my grandpa died almost 15 years ago, Grandma became the person I had only heard stories of. When she was a young, single woman living in Wausau, she decided to move to Milwaukee on her own. She worked hard and loved the big city and managed to save up $200 to buy a fur coat. (I remember that coat from childhood memories and I can see why she loved it so much. . . she looked gorgeous in it.) She started dating my grandpa and basically told him they were going to get married when he had leave from the military. She was a single mom for the first six months of my dad’s life until my grandpa’s active duty was done. That had to be so scary. . . but she just did it. She’s the one who did all the finances for the family. . . often there was talk of the cost of milk and bread at the dinner table. She knew how to stretch a dollar and if that meant knowing the exact price of every meal she cooked, that’s what she was going to do. She was tough. She was a woman of strong faith. . . in religion, and the Brewers. And one of my favorite things was watching her melt and smile and hold her great-grandkids.  I will miss everything about her. Her funeral was this weekend and we were able to be together to celebrate her and how much she means to us. Three sons, eight grandkids, 17 great-grandkids, and one great-great grandson. How lucky are we to have been loved by her?

Hear Lanette Hansen on the Magic Morning Show, weekdays from 5:45-9! Read more of her blogs here.