Happy 17th of May
Norway's Constitution Day
Why Norway is so Important to Me:
My grandparents were from Norway. My mother was born in the USA, and my grandparents were so disillusioned with the prejudice and disdain they experienced here, that they went back to Norway for many years of my mother’s childhood.
Astutely, they got out of Norway before the Nazi’s took over the country in WWII.
I grew up listening to stories of the old country. I particularly loved hearing my mother’s story about my grandmother’s birthday celebration. My grandmother was born on 17 May. As a child, my mother thought the entire country of Norway had a birthday party for her mom on the 17th of May!
I’ve written extensively in Paperdolls & Cowboy Boots about my grandparents and here on Paperdolls.Today 1 about my admiration and love of this country. I’ve included a links to a few of my favorite posts in the footnotes.2
For today, please remember the strong, small country who fought fascism, even after their country was occupied by powerful and evil dictators. Remember that Norwegians are generally a reserved and quiet people—who have a calm strength and courage to fight when required.
To my beloved survivors, you can emulate some of these strong, gentle traits. You don’t have to be noisy and loud to be strong. You can heal. You can build a meaningful and authentic life for yourself. While supporting and helping the less fortunate. Compassion and love are for the strongest among us. In my experience, Norwegians are some of the strongest among us. You can be quiet, loving and strong also.
Please know, you can be more noisy and publicly outraged about the domination and abuse in which you suffered. I’m just saying that you don’t have to be.
You can heal and bring more light to this world, in your own way and your own style.
A few significant entries about Norway and my grandparents:
https://www.paperdolls.today/p/returning-waves
https://www.paperdolls.today/p/why-i-have-hope
https://www.paperdolls.today/p/it-is-still-a-beautiful-world
My favorite posts about Norway and my grandparents are above.
Last night, I was challenged on the generalization that Norwegians are a strong, quiet, compassionate people. In a hilarious question, my nephew smiled and said, "And, how bout those Vikings?"
Touché
My response: The Vikings raided and pirated Europe in the late 8th to the late 11th centuries. Norway has learned from their adolescent exuberance, and gained the wisdom that they can still be strong, defend the less fortunate (My grandfather stated numerous times that it's in the Norwegian Constitution that no one would be hungry or poor), and remain reserved with a quiet confidence and strength.
My nephew's question was with a humorous tone and said with a twinkle in his eye. HUMOR IS IMPORTANT. Touché to my darling nephew for the "many a truth is spoken in jest." (That's from Shakespeare, not me)