Dear Friends and Family;
The Hansons have done it again!!! After two good years in Tucson, Susan and Rich moved across the country to Philadelphia in June. Rich's company, Charming Shoppes, Inc., closed their Tucson office after a series of in-house developments and a tanking economy. His small group was the only employees offered transfers to corporate headquarters just outside of Philadelphia with their jobs and salaries in tact. Susan and Rich felt lucky that, in the current economy, their fate was a company paid-for long distance move. They are now at home in a funky three-story apartment in the Old City section of Philadelphia, not far from Independence Hall.
Hilary, Josh and Nina moved to Philadelphia from Honolulu in early September. They stayed at Chez Hanson until their new place became available. Hilary now has a telecommuting job as a government contractor in the organ transplant field. Josh still has his Honolulu job with United Health, "commutes" periodically to Hawaii and otherwise telecommutes. Hawaii got to be too far away for both of them - and they believe that Philadelphia holds great possibilities for their Ravenchase Adventures business. Nina [see above] is almost fifteen months old, running around, saying a few words, communicating extremely well otherwise and enchanting everyone. It is good to have her [and her parents] a fifteen-minute walk away.
Andrea and Bobby are pursuing their artistic endeavors. Andrea is currently at work on Throttle [a novel], Worktape 1999 [a performance piece] and a collaboration with Bobby. A jazz drummer, Bobby continues to tour regularly in Europe with his various groups. He recently served as judge for a jazz music competition in Paris. Andrea and Bobby both had fellowships at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire last winter.
Jared continues to develop his practice as a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and a licensed acupuncturist in New York. He has become an expert on gaining exposure for his practice via the web. Jared appeared on MSNBC's nationally telecast Dr. Nancy show in July. Seema continues to work on her novel and other writing projects. She was a semi-finalist in a national competition for writers of first novels. She hopes to return to teaching once the economy revives and positions open up.
Rich, now a Senior Staff Consultant, continues to launch and support ecommerce websites for Charming Shoppes, Inc. from the headquarters office. After the June move, he reluctantly closed down his www.tucsonmusicscene.com website and turned his attention to the Philadelphia music scene. Now he and Susan enjoy concerts at World Cafe Live and Tin Angel, two well known music venues among others. Rich still supports the website for singer Amber Norgaard whom he met in Tucson.
Susan is finding her way in Philadelphia. She enjoys the large active Sacred Harp [shape note singing] community in Philadelphia and has re-connected with singing friends from up and down the east coast. One publicly welcomed Susan home at the first singing she attended. For History Behind the Scenes, she spent half the year working her aunt's [Jane Atherton Roman] archives, organizing photographs and increasing her knowledge of databases exponentially. This fall she wrote four entries for: World of a Slave [Two Volumes]: Encyclopedia of Material Life of Slaves in the United States, to be published by Greenwood Press in 2010.
The family just lost Susan's aunt, Marguerite "Peg" Yung, on December 5th. She passed away at 88, after a very eventful life, which included a distinguished teaching career, an important role in the effort to re-construct the slave ship Amistad and humanitarian work in Sierra Leone. Peg was a role model for Susan and will be missed very much.
We wish you and yours all the very best for 2010.
