2 - Short Takes - Remembering Dee Hansen

TRANSCRIPT

 

In this "Comfort food for the heart" short take, I'm remembering my good friend Dee Hansen, who passed away on July 26, 2018.

When I first met Dee Hansen, I just thought I was going to get a greyhound.  I had no idea I was also going to get a good friend, a dog-sitter, a holiday family, and a surrogate mother.

I had only been in Georgia about 18 months when I met Dee. I’ve been friends with her longer than anyone else I’ve known here.  And being Dee, with a heart bigger than Texas, she took me under her wing just like she took in that family of raccoons, and made sure I had a place where I belonged.

 

When I look at my life in Georgia, Dee is woven through it like the connecting thread in a beautiful tapestry.  She gave me my very first greyhound (after testing me by having me dog-sit while the family went on an Alaskan cruise J ).  She invited me to family gatherings, first as photographer and later as a pseudo-member.

 

I call the Hansens my “holiday family” because Dee made sure I was never alone on Thanksgiving or Christmas. She went with me when I was house-hunting, and it was because she wanted to show me Mark’s first house that I found the house I live in today, just a couple houses away from that first one of Mark’s.

 

We traded dog-sitting, and she would keep my fur-kids on a moment’s notice, whether it was for an unexpected business trip or an unexpected hospital stay.  I could always count on Dee to be there for me, as she’s been there for so many others, both human and animal, throughout her life.

 

The world is a better place because she was in it for 77 years. 

 

My life is forever changed because in spring of 2003, Dee didn’t just adopt a greyhound to me, she adopted me.   We’re not family by blood, but she’s family of my heart, and I cannot imagine my life without her in it.

 

Godspeed, Dee. The reunion at the Rainbow Bridge must have been one for the record books.

And thank you. Not just for bringing greyhounds into my life, but for bringing me into yours. I don’t know if I ever said this to you out loud, but I hope you knew I love you.

 

When I heard about Dee, I remembered a poem I had written in 2006 for another friend. I dug it out of my hard drive, and with a couple minor edits, was able to make it fit for Dee.  I shared it with her family, and they printed it on the back cover of the remembrance document they had at her service.

 

Flying without wings

mvy 7/29/18

 

Some folks are bound to earth

With chains of tempered steel.

Others just have silken threads

They seem to break at will.

 

Some folks fly high because they know

The art of air machines,

And some, like Dee, can know the thrill

Of flying without wings.

 

She’s soaring now, above the clouds

That block my earthbound view.

I celebrate her flight

With a heart that’s torn in two.

 

She flies alone -- no Jon, no kids,

No pets   – it’s solo time.

We’re left behind, and yet our friend

Is with us for all time.

We watch her acrobatic flight

With hearts that are tear-dimmed.

She soars, she wheels, she dips and dives,

Then skyward soars again.

 

We sense her joy at chains released,

Delighting in her flight.

And even though our sky is dark,

She’s flying into Light.

 

One last approach over her old home,

One last message to send.

A feather-kiss to Jon,

Then to the rainbow she ascends.

 

She’ll wait for him to join her there,

For their hearts are so entwined

That even in her new home,

He’ll be always on her mind.

 

Love doesn’t stop for death or grief,

Or other earthly things.

And when the time is right,

They’ll both be flying without wings.