Surreal and Celebration of Life/ Blog info

It still seems so surreal.  Like she has been on a vacation and should be walking through the door anytime now to give Malena and I a hug and a kiss.  We have had some rough spots and some smiles as we take things day by day.  I have gone to write a blog a couple times but I just can't seem to get my fingers to type what is going through my head.  I'm sure part of that is that it does seem surreal, like a bad dream I should be waking up from, but if I write it down then it has happened.  I keep thinking back to a blog Alli wrote long ago where she said something to the effect of its okay you don't know what to say I don't either.  I'm sure I will get my fingers to type in the coming time, they just don't know what to say yet.

I did want to share one detail with all of you about the celebration of life.  Alli meant so much to so many people and you all meant so much to her.  I want people to be able to share their stories of her; of all the nice things and inspiration she provided; of the interactions she had with people; of the amazing person she was from growing up, to school, to work... just everything in life.  At an attempt of levity... although it might not be too far off... the challenge is we might be there for a week or longer if everyone she did a nice things for came up to say something.  So at the celebration of life it will only be family speaking at the service but I still want people to be able to share and more importantly I want Malena to know all those stories people have with Alli and what she meant to everyone.

The best solution I have to solve that challenge is to use this platform for sharing.  In lieu of opening up the mic, I am going to open up the blog.  If you have a story, an inspiration, a nice thing she did, etc that you wanted to share please email to Alli_Celebration@comcast.net.  Include the blog title as well as the write-up with any pictures and I will start posting them here after the celebration of life.  It doesn’t matter if they are short or long, as long as they are genuine that is what matters.

I want Malena to be able to read about Alli, her stories, and her inspiration to others.  When she has a bad day as a teenager or she has a milestone in her future that she wants to celebrate; I want her to be able to read about her mom if she thinks that will make her day better or to celebrate an accomplishment that much more.  I always hear that we are telling our kids as a warning that what you but out on the internet lives forever.  I hope that comes that is true for this.  d

Celebration of Life Details

Alli's larger celebration of life will be held at 11:00am on January 26th at Trinity Lutheran Church in Tacoma with a reception to follow.  I did update the previous blog post as well but wanted to make sure a new post had the correct information.  

In lieu of flowers we are asking for donations to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). Donations may be sent to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, P.O. Box 19023, Seattle, WA  98109-1023.  Checks may be made payable to SCCA with the indication that they are in the memory of Alli Hanson for melanoma research.  You can also call (206) 606-2070 or (877) 308-3117 to make a donation by phone.

Memorial Details

We are trying to finalize details for Alli's celebration of life but wanted to share what the plan currently is.  We are trying to make sure we have a place for her formal celebration of life that is large enough for all to attend and hoping to confirm that very soon.  

The smaller graveside service will be held in Hoquim at Sunset Memorial Park this Friday, January 11th, at 2:00pm followed by a reception at Saron Lutheran-First Presbyterian Church; also in Hoquim.  

The larger, formal celebration of life we will have in the Seattle/ Tacoma area most likely in early February.  Once we have firm details on time and location I will post another blog on here to share the details. 

UPDATE - Alli's larger Celebration of life will be held on at 11:00am on January 26th at Trinity Lutheran Church in Tacoma (close to Pacific Lutheran University).      

Also, in lieu of flowers we are asking for donations to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). Donations may be sent to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, P.O. Box 19023, Seattle, WA  98109-1023.  Checks may be made payable to SCCA with the indication that they are in the memory of Alli Hanson for melanoma research.  You can also call (206) 606-2070 or (877) 308-3117 to make a donation by phone.

Allison Dana Hanson

Alli has put down her boxing gloves and is looking out over all of us from heaven.  She was the best wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker you could ever imagine.