The road to independence

My name is Richard Hansen and I was born at Vancouver General Hospital on November 1, 1943. I was the youngest of three children born to Edith and Lyman Hansen. I had a happy life with my family but because I was born with Cerebral Palsy, I had special needs that my parents thought could best be handled living in an institution. So in 1953 I went to Essondale for a short time before finding a bed in Woodlands where I stayed until 1964.

In 1964, I was one of many people to be transferred to Tranquille in Kamloops, BC. This was going to be my new home where I could get more education and learn life skills like working in the kitchen and counting money.

I stayed there until 1970 when I was placed in my first boarding home in North Kamloops. It was a nice change from life in the institution. I could go out to the shopping centre and come back home without supervision. I could go bowling, go to movies, buy presents and go to church socials and out for meals. 

I was finding some independence and liked it a lot. I also worked part time doing odd jobs like paper shredding, sorting hangers, making garden and surveyors stakes, making rugs and book binding. I also volunteered at local thrift shops and the food bank. I had lived in six different boarding homes in Kamloops before starting home sharing in 2007 with people in the community.

I am now home sharing in Nanaimo, BC and want to continue living more independently in the community where I feel like I can be an important person. My goal for 2010 is to share memories with good old friends and make new friends.

Some things that make me happy are listening to music and watching good old classic movies. I first knew that music was a big part of my life when Red Robinson started on radio in the 1950s. I used to listen to his radio shows and play records on an old phonograph that my parents had. That’s where I really started to like music a lot. I really like the music from “American Graffiti”, instrumental bands like “The Ventures”, Duane Eddy, and Elvis. “Best of the DJs in BC Radio: Today and Yesterday” is a favorite morning radio show that I like to listen to.

Some of my favorite people that I look up to are Dick Clark, Red Robinson, Casey Kasem, Rick Hansen and Wayne Gretzky. I also like the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Giants and BC Lions teams.