Monday, March 14, 2005
Tribute
Driving home after school on Friday, I hit a deer. My first EVER automobile accident. And I laughed. Laura and I both laughed. Because compared to the loss that the world just faced, a headlight was nothing big to say goodbye to.
A strange thing about mourning is that everyone looks for a connection. For some reason, it feels necessary to have some kind of pain in order to relate with those feeling it around you. Although many people push away feelings of vulnerability and hurt, in a way it is a natural to want to suffer. How odd. In this case especially, so many people feel the need to reach out and share how their life has been affected, directly or indirectly, by a man they shared their hallways with.
Even those who did not know Mr. Hansen admired him. Everyone wanted to be part of a class he taught or a club he supervised, just so they, too, could share in the experience of working with such a wonderful man. I was fortunate enough to know him through Student Council, and there was never a moment when no one was laughing or joking with him. He was constantly forming friendships and doing his best to make everyone around him smile. He lit people up, made them feel good about themselves and what they were contributing to their school and their community. He inspired poeple to come to class, because, after all, if you missed class, you missed Hansen. It is hard to believe that he will not be returning to school to admire everything the student body has done in his honor, because that's where he belongs. Walking through the halls, or in the science resource center, in his Converse tennis shoes, striped shirts, carrying a cup of coffee. In our hearts and our memories, that is where he will always be. We love you, Mr. Hansen, and you will never be forgotten. My most heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to you, too, Senora K, and I'm hoping to see that contagious smile again soon.
I am no expert at living my life. Few people are. But Hansen was. And there is nothing about him that shouldn't live on in each one of us. Carry on, my friends, and remember to keep spreading the HOPE and the zest for life that Hansen carried with him everyday.
A strange thing about mourning is that everyone looks for a connection. For some reason, it feels necessary to have some kind of pain in order to relate with those feeling it around you. Although many people push away feelings of vulnerability and hurt, in a way it is a natural to want to suffer. How odd. In this case especially, so many people feel the need to reach out and share how their life has been affected, directly or indirectly, by a man they shared their hallways with.
Even those who did not know Mr. Hansen admired him. Everyone wanted to be part of a class he taught or a club he supervised, just so they, too, could share in the experience of working with such a wonderful man. I was fortunate enough to know him through Student Council, and there was never a moment when no one was laughing or joking with him. He was constantly forming friendships and doing his best to make everyone around him smile. He lit people up, made them feel good about themselves and what they were contributing to their school and their community. He inspired poeple to come to class, because, after all, if you missed class, you missed Hansen. It is hard to believe that he will not be returning to school to admire everything the student body has done in his honor, because that's where he belongs. Walking through the halls, or in the science resource center, in his Converse tennis shoes, striped shirts, carrying a cup of coffee. In our hearts and our memories, that is where he will always be. We love you, Mr. Hansen, and you will never be forgotten. My most heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to you, too, Senora K, and I'm hoping to see that contagious smile again soon.
I am no expert at living my life. Few people are. But Hansen was. And there is nothing about him that shouldn't live on in each one of us. Carry on, my friends, and remember to keep spreading the HOPE and the zest for life that Hansen carried with him everyday.
# posted by Allisoni Balloni : 7:02 PM
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