Serendipity

Grief has no timeline. Neither does love. Jim and Pat Hansen passed away last year, in the summer of 2022. They were my friends, producers, mentors, and allies. To my children, they were Granny Pat and Uncle Jim. (Youthful Jim wasn’t ready to commit to grandparent status at the time.) Pat sewed them quilts to celebrate their births.

In the late 1990s, my husband and I moved to Carlsbad. I was looking for theatre opportunities and made an appointment to see Pat, co-founder with Jim of Carlsbad Playhouse. We discovered that they lived just around the corner from me in Old Carlsbad, so I walked. She was impressed by the leather satchel I carried that held my scripts. In later days we laughed as we recalled that first meeting and the serious impression that bag gave me.

Through decades, Pat and Jim tended our relationship with kindness and generosity. They produced my plays for young audiences, which toured the Actors Festival and local schools. The Carlsbad Playreaders reading of The Goddess of Flowers preceded its World Premiere at the San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre (AART). I eventually served on the Carlsbad Playhouse board as treasurer, which was a wonderful excuse to return to Carlsbad to reconcile checks after my husband and I moved to San Diego.

Their home was filled with art and light. From their porch you could see the ocean. They were always taking in strays–cats and people. They were full of stories and life and loved to talk about theatre and books. I learned so much from them. There is a bookcase designed in their honor in the lobby of New Village Arts, which they supported from its beginning.

During one of our times together, the word “serendipity” popped up. Pat reviewed its meaning in the dictionary, which sat on a pedestal in their living room. She said it was her favorite word. I had recently lost my mother, and it was her favorite word as well.

I am forever grateful to Pat and Jim for their influence, presence, and love.

San Diego Union-Tribune Theater Notebook: Community mourns passing of three longtime local theater artists