Letters From Narnia

October 18, 2018

0-20 in the blink of an eye. This year’s birthday theme has to be Friends and Family; the Assassin has learned so much about both during her adventures over the past 365 days.

Previously, we saw our hero as a tiny baby with a shock of thick black hair that stood straight up like a troll doll. It was a message from the Universe that we cluelessly ignored – the message was, “Look out, World! You think her hair stands out? Wait until you meet her personality!” I have vivid memories of a fierce little toddler, making mud pies in the back of her Cozy Coupe, while chatting with her imaginary friends Bigaloo and Tigaloo. If one were so stupid as to brush off her friends with impunity, such as forget to set places for them at the dinner table, Hanna would roar and demand that they be included. One summer while we were visiting family in Germany, Opa made a terrible mistake. He found 2-year-old Hanna playing in the cellar, chattering away, opening cupboard doors and peeking inside them. He tut-tutted, shut the doors of the cupboard, and was about to shoo Hanna upstairs when the siren went off.  Hanna’s howling brought me running downstairs, only to discover Hanna stomping her feet, gesturing wildly, and exclaiming to Opa, “Bigaloo and Tigaloo are stuck inside! Open the doors, OPEN THE DOORS!” That day, Opa learned that nobody messes with Hanna’s friends, NOBODY, hoo boy!

Today, that wild child is a member of the Alpha Phi sorority at UW. Her sorority sisters are her best friends; they are her Bigaloos and Tigaloos. Their friendship gave her the courage in her Freshman year, to face the other 47,391 students at her giant school, even though she was a small-town girl who had mostly attended schools with populations of just a few hundred students. She and her circle of friends have not only survived into their Junior year of college, they have CONQUORED those years. And unlike imaginary friends, these friends are there for Hanna when she needs them.  When she thought she could swing from the rafters in their vacation home this March and found out she was wrong and ended up with a dislocated, broken shoulder 6 hours from home in Oregon, it was a sorority sister who drove her the several hours to the airport so she could fly home for her surgery. After her surgery, when she was laid up on the couch in pain, her sorority sisters drove out from the city to cheer her up and give her a care package full of chocolate. During the following 6 weeks Hanna had to attend classes with an immobilized right arm. She was miserable because not only could she not write with her dominant hand, she also couldn’t use it to do basic things like wash up or put on makeup; she felt helpless and embarrassed. Once again, her sorority sisters pulled through, helping her with everything; even drawing on her eyeliner.

Throughout Hanna’s life, we in the family found that she required a certain amount of time to herself; she didn’t really enjoy all the squishing hugs and kisses we throw around in our house. She played with us to a point, then she would need to chill out on her own. We knew she loved us, but we had to respect her independence and her differences. This year, however, has been a year of glorious affection from Hanna. She has come out of her shell and jumped right into the Treppenhauer way of PDA. She chats with Emily more now than she has in all previous years combined, showing us that she understands the big difference between sister and SISTER, and when all three kids are together, the house is filled with laughter from morning to night. The year has been filled with family vacations, a Father/Daughter trip to San Francisco, and more time at home than the previous two years combined. Perhaps it is a sign of her advancing age, perhaps it was the pain and urgency of her broken shoulder; whatever the reason, I am over the moon to have the extra hugs and kisses and the frequent visits from school.

This year has been a crash course in Living for the Assassin. She learned that school can be really difficult, but if she works hard and has flexible coping strategies she can excel. She learned that rafters are not for gymnastic stunts if one is not a gymnast. She learned that friendship is not only about having fun during the good times, that it is also about being there for each other during the bad times. And somewhere along the way, she learned that her family is her rock; that we are Love and Friendship and everything in-between.

And Hanna isn’t the only one getting schooled this year. In this busy house (all five of us are attending college!) we have learned that while school and work might dominate our lives, our family is precious and worth the difficulty of having to squeeze time together out of our hectic schedules.  I always thought I would see less of my children when they went away to school; it used to make me feel a little bit sad and lonely.  Tonight, we will have all five members of our family under one roof, for the first time all together on Hanna’s birthday since 2011. Tonight, we celebrate 20 years with Johanna Charlotte Treppenhauer – This year is not only the Chinese Year of the Dog, it is also the Year of the Assassin! Happy Birthday, Hanna, we love you and are so proud of you!