Summer of 1986 in Tuusula, Finland. That's me, the youngest, in front, with all my cousins. This picture is missing about 3 of the youngest cousins. We would spend our summers in Finland with my grandparents splitting our time between the summer cottage in Tuusula and their condo in Helsinki. My grandmother, Mimma, would cook for us everyday and the table was always set for 10-24 people. It's amazing to think about all that she did for us. At the cottage, there was no running water, the water came from a well down by the lake, we used an outhouse, burning stoves and hand washed all the dishes morning and night using the well water. My grandma would chop wood in the forest and clean out the outhouse.
And she never complained.
As my cousin, Krista, puts it:
Nyt vasta tulee ajateltua, kuinka suuren urakan Ammi aina teki. Talo täynnä aikuisia ja lapsia. Mä muistan ne pitsireunaiset nokkosletut, aamuvelliä, kauraryynejä ja viinimarjoja, riisipuuroa ja muutamat ei mun suosikit esim kesäkeitto. Mutta Ammi vaan jaksoi. Hän oli uskomaton nainen.
My attempt to translate:
When I see this picture I think about how much work ammi (grandma) did for all of us. The house full of adults and children. I remember the butter-laced nettle pancakes, morning snacks, oats and red currants (picked from the yard), rice porridge, and one of my favorites was summer soup. But ammi just kept on going. She was an amazing woman.
I'm counting down the days to our trip to Finland. I can't wait to show Andy where I spent these summers. It's going to be amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment