--1990--
My twin sister Mary Jane Hanson and I watched as our parents took off in a plane to France. They were going on their second honeymoon. MJ and I were only 7 and that was the last time we ever saw our mommy and daddy. On the way to France the plane lost control and went down, there were no survivors.
I will always remember that night. We were staying at my mom's sister's house for the 2 weeks they would be gone. Aunt Mandy answered the phone and just by the look on her face MJ and I knew that something wasn't right. "Mary Jane, Barbara Lou… this is really hard for me to tell you. Your mom and dad's plane crashed, no one survived." MJ and I were quite smart for our age, we knew what that meant, mommy and daddy weren't coming back, ever.
Our Aunt Mandy was our only living relative so we went to live with her. Neither of us knew that it would only be a matter of time before she was gone too.
--1993--
MJ and I were huge wrestling fans. Our dad, Nate, used to watch it with us every weekend. My favorite wrestler was HBK (Shawn Michaels) and MJ's favorite was Triple H (Hunter Hurst Helmsley). Our Aunt Mandy had taken us to a few shows live, any of the ones that came within 2 hours driving time and we were there. Unbeknownst to us Aunt Mandy had been to the doctor recently and they found out that she had breast cancer, the same disease that claimed her mother when Mandy was just 12. Mandy was the only family we had left, when our parents died she took care of us without a second thought and she hasn't gone out on many dates since then.
One day Aunt Mandy told us that she had important news to tell us. She sat us down and told us that she had been to the doctor a few times in the last month and the doctors all said that she had cancer, which in turn made the three of us start to bawl like little babies. She also had some more news for us, she had found out that the WWF was having a signing and she told us we were going. That was exciting but MJ and I would have rather had Aunt Mandy better then some wrestlers signing stuff, but I guess some good came with the bad.
About a month later was when we were to meet the WWF wrestlers. We got tons of autographs while we were there, but towards the end we got to the wrestlers that we liked the most. I ran over to Shawn Michaels, "HBK!! You're my favorite!" Shawn laughed and MJ ran over to Triple H, "Triple H! You ROCK!" which cause both men to laugh again. They both said thank you to us.
I looked in awe at Shawn and said, "You're so cool. I wish I was cool like you." At the same time MJ was going on about something to Triple H. Shawn smiled at me, "How old are you pretty little girl?" "I'm 10! Ever since you've been on the WWF you've been my favorite. We used to watch it with our dad all the time, it's so much fun to see guys kick each others butts! ILOVE IT!"
Shawn laughed and looked at our Aunt Mandy, "Are your little girls always like this?" Mandy smiled, "Yes… especially when ever talking about you two. But, they're not my little girls." Triple H looked shocked. I started to tell them the sad story of our lives then. "When we were 7 mommy and daddy left us to go to France and the plane crashed. They're taking care of us up from Heaven now, and Aunt Mandy is taking care of us from down here." A tear ran down MJ's face and she said, "But pretty soon Aunt Mandy is gonna leave us to join them and then we'll be all alone." I looked at MJ with a tear running down my cheek, "We have each other. I'm never gonna leave you." And I gave MJ a great big hug, and we both let the tears run freely then.
"Okay. Enough crying. Shawn you're the best!" "NO!! Hunter's the best!" "Shawn is!" "Hunter is!" "Shawn!" "Hunter!" "Shawn!" "Hunter!" it went on for a while until Shawn looked up at Aunt Mandy and asked, "Well Mandy… Who's the best?" Hunter joined in on the fun, "Yea, which one of us is better?" Mandy rolled her eyes and said, "Well… I think that… The Undertaker is the best!" Both guys looked offended and MJ and I screamed "WHAT!?!" Mandy smiled, "I was just kidding. I don't have a favorite. You're all good in my eyes."
Shawn laughed, "Yea, yea that's what they ALL say. So what are you three pretty ladies doing for dinner?" Mandy's eyes got big, "Um… we don't have any plans. Why?" Hunter smiled, "Yea Shawnie, Why?" Shawn turned on the charm, "Well, I was thinking that I could take you three lovely ladies out to dinner, Hunter, what do you say, wanna join us?" Hunter laughed, "Sure, but they should probably say yes before you just assume they'll go." With that said MJ and I screamed, "YES! We'll go!"
Mandy laughed, "I guess that means that you have a date. Where do you plan on taking us?" Shawn looked down that MJ and Babs and said, "Where do you wanna go girls?" "APPLEBEE'S!!" "Well, Applebee's it is then." Hunter laughed, "Ok… we should be done in about an hour. Where are you girls staying?" MJ smiled, "We're staying at our house. Where are YOU staying?" Shawn laughed, "We're staying at the Marriott. How about you give us directions to your house and we'll be there in two hours. We can go hang out and do whatever if you girls aren't hungry right then." So the plans were set and we were gonna have so much fun.
My twin sister Mary Jane Hanson and I watched as our parents took off in a plane to France. They were going on their second honeymoon. MJ and I were only 7 and that was the last time we ever saw our mommy and daddy. On the way to France the plane lost control and went down, there were no survivors.
I will always remember that night. We were staying at my mom's sister's house for the 2 weeks they would be gone. Aunt Mandy answered the phone and just by the look on her face MJ and I knew that something wasn't right. "Mary Jane, Barbara Lou… this is really hard for me to tell you. Your mom and dad's plane crashed, no one survived." MJ and I were quite smart for our age, we knew what that meant, mommy and daddy weren't coming back, ever.
Our Aunt Mandy was our only living relative so we went to live with her. Neither of us knew that it would only be a matter of time before she was gone too.
--1993--
MJ and I were huge wrestling fans. Our dad, Nate, used to watch it with us every weekend. My favorite wrestler was HBK (Shawn Michaels) and MJ's favorite was Triple H (Hunter Hurst Helmsley). Our Aunt Mandy had taken us to a few shows live, any of the ones that came within 2 hours driving time and we were there. Unbeknownst to us Aunt Mandy had been to the doctor recently and they found out that she had breast cancer, the same disease that claimed her mother when Mandy was just 12. Mandy was the only family we had left, when our parents died she took care of us without a second thought and she hasn't gone out on many dates since then.
One day Aunt Mandy told us that she had important news to tell us. She sat us down and told us that she had been to the doctor a few times in the last month and the doctors all said that she had cancer, which in turn made the three of us start to bawl like little babies. She also had some more news for us, she had found out that the WWF was having a signing and she told us we were going. That was exciting but MJ and I would have rather had Aunt Mandy better then some wrestlers signing stuff, but I guess some good came with the bad.
About a month later was when we were to meet the WWF wrestlers. We got tons of autographs while we were there, but towards the end we got to the wrestlers that we liked the most. I ran over to Shawn Michaels, "HBK!! You're my favorite!" Shawn laughed and MJ ran over to Triple H, "Triple H! You ROCK!" which cause both men to laugh again. They both said thank you to us.
I looked in awe at Shawn and said, "You're so cool. I wish I was cool like you." At the same time MJ was going on about something to Triple H. Shawn smiled at me, "How old are you pretty little girl?" "I'm 10! Ever since you've been on the WWF you've been my favorite. We used to watch it with our dad all the time, it's so much fun to see guys kick each others butts! ILOVE IT!"
Shawn laughed and looked at our Aunt Mandy, "Are your little girls always like this?" Mandy smiled, "Yes… especially when ever talking about you two. But, they're not my little girls." Triple H looked shocked. I started to tell them the sad story of our lives then. "When we were 7 mommy and daddy left us to go to France and the plane crashed. They're taking care of us up from Heaven now, and Aunt Mandy is taking care of us from down here." A tear ran down MJ's face and she said, "But pretty soon Aunt Mandy is gonna leave us to join them and then we'll be all alone." I looked at MJ with a tear running down my cheek, "We have each other. I'm never gonna leave you." And I gave MJ a great big hug, and we both let the tears run freely then.
"Okay. Enough crying. Shawn you're the best!" "NO!! Hunter's the best!" "Shawn is!" "Hunter is!" "Shawn!" "Hunter!" "Shawn!" "Hunter!" it went on for a while until Shawn looked up at Aunt Mandy and asked, "Well Mandy… Who's the best?" Hunter joined in on the fun, "Yea, which one of us is better?" Mandy rolled her eyes and said, "Well… I think that… The Undertaker is the best!" Both guys looked offended and MJ and I screamed "WHAT!?!" Mandy smiled, "I was just kidding. I don't have a favorite. You're all good in my eyes."
Shawn laughed, "Yea, yea that's what they ALL say. So what are you three pretty ladies doing for dinner?" Mandy's eyes got big, "Um… we don't have any plans. Why?" Hunter smiled, "Yea Shawnie, Why?" Shawn turned on the charm, "Well, I was thinking that I could take you three lovely ladies out to dinner, Hunter, what do you say, wanna join us?" Hunter laughed, "Sure, but they should probably say yes before you just assume they'll go." With that said MJ and I screamed, "YES! We'll go!"
Mandy laughed, "I guess that means that you have a date. Where do you plan on taking us?" Shawn looked down that MJ and Babs and said, "Where do you wanna go girls?" "APPLEBEE'S!!" "Well, Applebee's it is then." Hunter laughed, "Ok… we should be done in about an hour. Where are you girls staying?" MJ smiled, "We're staying at our house. Where are YOU staying?" Shawn laughed, "We're staying at the Marriott. How about you give us directions to your house and we'll be there in two hours. We can go hang out and do whatever if you girls aren't hungry right then." So the plans were set and we were gonna have so much fun.