I'd like to thank you for the thoughtful comments on my latest post, concerning the death of my grandmother.
Life has been a bit strange lately. When I was a child I was much closer to my grandmother (Bergljot) than I have been since I moved to Iceland, at the age of 7 (from Norway). Since then I have been much closer to my Icelandic grandmother, Asta. I still don't fully, or maybe not at all, comprehend the fact that my grandmother Bergljot is not sitting in her usual favorite chair in the kitchen of her old white house in northern Norway, where my father was born, and where I played as a child.
Since she died I have practically been 'stalking' my other grandmother. I think she is quite amused by the attention. I've been calling her relentlessly from work "just to check how she's doing", as well as having fish & ryebread with her, going shopping with her, etc.
I am not feeling too bad, I'm certainly hanging in there. The only thing that scares me is the power that those who love us have over us, and keeps us in emotional bondage, in a way. But as Cat Stevens once said (before he lost his mind): "Freedom is just another word for having nothing left to lose".
You probably don't realize how incredibly descriptively you write. From just a few well-chosen words I could see in my mind's eye the house in Northern Norway... the favorite chair... your father as a child. I could smell and taste with my imagination the fish and rye bread (not to mention experiencing the comforting smells that only older relative's homes posses).
Thank you for taking me with you on your journey.
I agree with David.
BTW, it was Janis Joplin who said that, originally Kris Kristofferson - see here.
Posted by: David Boxenhorn at June 8, 2005 09:42 PM PermalinkDavid Trepp: Thank you, I just love hearing (reading) such things.
David B: thank you as well, and thanks for that pointer. I can't be bothered to fix it though :)
Posted by: Maria at June 8, 2005 10:03 PM PermalinkGlad you are back! I hate that you are sad.
David B.: Kris Kristofferson! Yikes. Ohhhh the beard, the hair, the 70s. A 70s icon. (That's a decade that Maria has only read about.) : )
Posted by: Alice at June 9, 2005 04:07 PM PermalinkMaria, I am a little older than you, could actually be your mother in age, and I want to tell you how comforted I feel after I read your blog. It is comforting to see that a person who is far from me in age, in geography (you're from the north, I'm from the south...of the Mediterranean, and now lives on the other side of the Atlantic), in culture somehow, and perhaps in other things.. can actually be close to me, in her way of thinking, in her strong and proud attachment to Israel. Thank you for giving me this comfort.. BiShalom.
P.S.: another closeness: I am a social anthropologist...! And believe me, I do not encounter many anthropologists who are "proud friends of Israel"!!
Posted by: Nadir at June 20, 2005 05:29 AM Permalink