Freddie

When I was about 8 or 9 years old my best friend Lori Luther introduced me to one of her family friends. Frederick Hanson was his name but all of us kids just called him Freddie. Freddie was an older man, about 65 or so when I met him. He'd never married but had always loved kids, not in a bad or dangerous way...he genuinely LOVED kids. He liked helping them, he liked doing things with them, he liked spending time with them, and kids genuinely loved Freddie.  He was like the grandpa every kid wished they had.

Freddie drove an old white station wagon, the type that had a seat facing there rear in the very back of the car. Several times a month Freddie would show up in our neighborhood, load his car up with kids and set off on a new adventure. Sometimes it was going to the park, sometimes we drove all the way to Elephant Rock (which is a state park in Missouri that's basically a huge pile of boulders that you can walk up), he even took us to the circus. We always had fun when we were with Freddie, but the best times were when we got to spend the night at his house.

Freddie's house was in DeSoto. It was kind of small but we thought it was the best house in the world because you could run a complete circle starting in the kitchen, going through his bedroom, into the living room and ending up back in the kitchen...and boy did we run.  The minute we hit the door we would chase each other around and around until we got dizzy and fell down in a fit of giggles. Freddie never told us to settle down, to stop running and screaming...he just let us have fun.

Freddie encouraged us to be creative, to use our imaginations and explore everything that interested us.  I loved to cook, even as a little girl, so I asked him if I could make everyone a special treat one night. He tousled my hair and told me to use anything in the kitchen I needed.  That was the night I created my first recipe, Chocvanoco! 

In my memory I can see myself slowly cooking vanilla pudding then adding chocolate chip and stirring until they all melted. Next I added a hand full of coconut flakes and proudly watched as he dished up a small bowl for everyone to enjoy. I don't remember how it actually tasted, but I do remember how much he complimented it and how he told all the other kids that it was the best pudding he'd ever had in his life.

Freddie was like that, he always knew how to make a kid feel special without going so far overboard that it felt like fake praise.

All of the kids he took under his wing came from poor families, but he never made us feel like less than a prince or princess. He would find chores that we could do and then would proudly pay us so we had money which we would then get to spend on ourselves.  Earning a couple dollars was a big deal to all of us and we would proudly walk the two blocks to the stores on Main Street and make our purchases.

I often think back to those times with Freddie and try as I might I can never find even one second of unhappiness. I remember the way he walked with a shuffle, the way he would get tired while driving, pull over and sleep for 5 minutes and then be wide awake and take off down the road again, the way he would comb his thin gray hair before putting his hat...a REAL hat, not a baseball cap...on so he would be presentable in public. I remember his laughter and his hugs, and him telling me I was special and would grow up to do great things.

I think one of the biggest problems in the world today is that we don't have many people like Freddie anymore, someone who is good to his very soul, who is patient with everyone, and who loves and devotes their life to making others happy without asking for anything in return.

Freddie died in 1978 at the age of 71...a little over 34 years ago...but he continues to live in the heart of every child who ever had the privilege of knowing him.

I love you Freddie, I appreciate all you did for me and I look forward to seeing you again one day.