Introduction

On October 4, 2013, Lynn M. Hansen died at the age of 77.

I am the youngest of his seven children, and I celebrated my 31st birthday at his funeral a few days later.  Nearly six months have passed, and I've become somewhat used to the pain of losing my dad.  I don't know that the sadness has decrescendoed, but I have accepted that my dad's been replaced with a feeling of loss.

Grieving this profoundly for the first time, I'm making it up as I go.

I sponsored a Movember team.  For the month of November, 22 men grew variously respectable mustaches, and we raised $455 in Dad's honor to support men's health awareness - particularly as it relates to prostate cancer.

I also grabbed a copy of his memoirs and I've been editing them with the intent of getting them published. That's where this blog comes in.  I'm finding the process of getting them published may be more lengthy than I had previously anticipated, so I decided to get his story out a piece at a time through this medium.

I haven't abandoned the idea of seeing his story in a bound volume, but I thought I would be doing the world a favor by taking this more expeditious route to getting it out there for those interested to read it.

With that brief introduction, we'll begin at the beginning of my dad's story in the next post...

Picture of my dad with his son, Kevin, a few minutes before he died at the BYU - USU football game

Airman from the Hill Air Force Base Honor Guard presenting the flag to my mom:  "On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Air Force, and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service." 

Colonel Erik Hansen and Captain Wade Hansen salute Colonel Lynn Hansen's casket as his grandsons carry him to his resting place (Kurt and Mark also pictured)