Bob and Doris

This is a picture of my Grandma and Grandpa's (Doris and Robert Haugen) house on Ottawa Avenue in St. Paul just off of Smith Avenue and the High Bridge. They lived there from the late 1950s until 1998 when Grandma moved to an apartment in West St. Paul. My Grandfather Robert died from cancer in July of 1987. Robert was the youngest son of George and Caroline Haugen. Caroline was the daugther of Hans and Anne Maria Brack Hanson. So, Hans and Anne Maria are my great great grandparents who immigrated from Norway in 1889. See timeline below. I would guess that the two photos above were taken in 1985 or 1986.

Regarding the High Bridge, I think I saw it being blown up on Sun, Feb. 24, 1985, but memory is a funny thing and maybe I just think I remember it...I would have been 12 years old then. I do remember that my Grandpa watched and taped it and also remember that he so dearly wanted to watch all of it's reconstruction and drive over the brand new one before he died. I can't find the date of when the new High Bridge was opened, but I remember that Grandpa died before that.

The old High Bridge was freaky. I remember getting stuck on it one day when we drove to Mom and Dad's house because traffic was backed up for some reason. My mom was really nervous. As a young girl she and Grandma walked across the bridge (and you could see inbetween the boards down to the Mississippi River). She dropped her dolly and it fell into the river. How sad is that!

My Grandpa Bob loved family history, photography, computers, and technology in general. He was one of the first people I know to have a computer - Radio Shack I think. If he was still alive, I know that he would have LOVED this blog and been adding stories and photos all the time.