Letter To The Editor:

Following up to the story from 10/25/2019:

I'm writing this letter because we are the parents & brother of Stephanie Hansen. We had the honor & privilege to have this wonderful amazing lady in our lives for a little over 35yrs. We lived in Roswell, NM. when she was younger, Stephanie & her Uncle Tony would go look for horned toads & had a little swimming pool full of these, of course they had to let them go.  Everyone wanted Stephanie to be their flower girl (4 weddings) when she was 6 yrs old because she was beautiful even back then.  Stephanie always had this beautiful light that surrounded  her.

Even as a little girl she loved music, & knew all the words to the 80's songs & would dance (that she learned from grandma Barb) to these songs too.   Stephanie was given the Native American name from her grandpa (Bumpa) due to her Native Heritage. Bi mish imo equay, dancing along woman. because as a little girl she would always dance for Bumpa when he sang. Stephanie  will always be Precious to Bumpa.  

Stephanie was there when you needed her most, the smile that made her eyes twinkle with mischief. The warm embrace or that funny quick whit that she got from her dad (and Yes, her brother has this trait too), when her & her brother got together no-one stood a chance. The loves of her life were her children  Jocelyn, Collin & Rylan, & she would do anything for them. I see Stephanie’s  traits in all 3 grandchildren their mothers LOVE will live on through them. Stephanie loved her niece Natalie & nephew Logan. The way they would laugh when they were around her would always make us smile.

On that dreadful night we all lost our Best Friend. During that first week we started to find out what our daughter & sister really meant to a lot of people & the many hearts that she had touched.  They all would say the same thing how warm & welcomed she made everyone feel & that Stephanie’s BEAUTIFUL smile would light up her eyes with the laughter that followed.  Every where she would go she would brighten someone’s day.

I guess we are writing this because we wanted everyone to know just how special & precious this young lady is, was & always will be, because you see on the day she died, we found out in the early morning light that Stephanie Hansen was an Organ Donor & that she helped people through her death.  "We will MISS her EVERYTHING.

Randy, Angela & Chad Hansen

Big Lake, MN