Memories of my early childhood
I was born on an early spring day in Skaftung, Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, Finland, to a modest poverty family on 15 March 1949. At a time when I could not speak a word, my truly believing mother held me in her arms and asked in her heart, "What is this boy going to be?" I looked her in the eyes, smiled and said, "Priest!" It also came true, but in a different way than thought, as will be seen in the later chapters.
I have born in the sauna, as was customary then. My dad told me that the doctor called to help with childbirth had forgotten the key to his doctor's bag to his home. I have born while he was picking it up. That's why my father had to work as a midwife. I have noticed my father's skillfulness in many different matter. Among other things, he has built detached houses, summer villas, even commercial buildings, and made additional income by weaving Finnish rug. One of the great ones was on the wall of our home. Others were sold.
My grandfather Oskar Norrgård became completely blind at the age of 16 as a result of the accident. He was on a boat trip with two of his friends, sitting in front part of the boat and eating his lunch. Between a rower and a man sitting on the boat a dispute broke out. The man, who was sitting behind, grabbed his shotgun, aiming at the rower. The rower dodged and the gunshots hit my grandfather's face. Still, he was twice married.
His first wife died and he remarried. As a result of the accident, Oskar became a member of the Conservative Lestadian faith. In one of the songs he composed, he says he is grateful to be blind in order to be seen. He published a Swedish broadcast magazine called "Zions Missionsblad". He sold clothing and textiles in his area.
My father Paulus Sanfrid Mikael Norrgård told me that he had had to pull carts, which was loaded on clothes and textiles even during the very cold winter, assisting his father in his sales and business trips. I loved him very much. My father had an older brother, Leve, and a younger brother, Helge, who had sister Helga of the same age. They were twins. Because my grandfather was blind, his sons managed to secretly burn the moonshine and drink already in their youths.
My parents were of the Conservative-Lestadian family
Both of my parents were of the conservative Lestadian family. So they both represent the widespread Old Lutheran Christian revival in Finland. My mother's maiden name was Kerttu Sanelma Hietamäki. She was 7 years older than my father. According to my father, my mother lied to her age, claiming to be much younger than she was in reality.
Because of Lestadism, it was normal to take children to Christian summer tent meetings. I was less than 2 years old at the time. Therefore, I have no recollection of those meetings. My dear godmother Selma Norrgård, a girl named Selma Jauhiainen was a strong-willed and beautiful Savonese woman from Kiuruvesi.
She was very worried about us three little boys: me, of my little brother Klaus and my big brother Lars. She had no children of her own, but she was patronizing her husband's unmarried child, a son named Arvo. Selma was deceived by her husband because she was unaware of her husband Leve's unmarried child before she was married. Therefore, they had no common children.
Selma also lived with her husband in Skaftung, which is partly by the sea. That originally Swedish-speaking village used to be part of the municipality of Sideby, but was incorporated into Kristiinankaupunki in 1973. When my dad made car trips for up to 2 weeks as an insurance salesman, my mother became bored at home. She could not speak Swedish at all and left we, the three little boys alone in a private home when she went to Alajärvi to her grandparents for up to a week.
She was sick and jealous of my father. I later heard about it separately from my father, and from Selma and from my father's believing sister, Helga. So my mother was mentally ill and would have desperately needed treatment for her illness. At that time it was impossible depending of lack of money. She maintained her faith in Jesus until her death. I loved her very much. I learned from her faithfulness! Rev. 2: 10c.
>> Be faithful to death, and I'll give you the crown of life <<
In the Guard of Angels
Once my mother went to her grandparents for a week. My dad was far away on a business trip and we boys stayed home alone. Then it occurred to Selma how well my mother and we little boys could handle (?)
She decided to find out and knocked on the door of my home. Nobody came to open it, but there was light in the apartment that winter evening. She knew the key to the front door would be stored under the carpet in front of the door. She found it and opened the door. She saw us little boys fleeing under the kitchen table in fear.
But the worst part was that my mom wasn't home and she saw a burning oil lamp left on the top level of a bookcase. Its hot flame had already burned the dark area of the ceiling of the wooden house and there was already some smoke in the room.
It would only have been a short time that the house could have caught fire! My dear godmother Selma immediately removed the lamp and gave us the food she brought and fed us daily until my mother returned home from Alajärvi.
Then Selma asked my mother, wondering why she had left her child alone and put the oil lamp on the top of the bookshelf, as the whole house had been on fire in minutes (?) My mother had responded to her: "The guardian angels do protect the small children." That's where Selma realized my mother was seriously mentally ill.
Since then, our Heavenly Father used Selma as a "guardian angel" as long as my parents lived in Skaftung. I was grateful for it and went to see her a few times in the 1990s, when she had to lie down paralyzed for four long years in the Lohja hospital ward. Then she, as an old lady, gladly told me about her memories. At that time I lived in Turku.
My mother was absolutely right that Protecting Angels are able to protect children. However, she did not realize that childcare should not be left only to the angels for a week, and then travel alone from home to her parents! I'm sure that Protecting Angels put in my dear godmother Selma's heart to visit us just then!
Moving to Nummela, Vihti, Southern Finland 1951
After my father, Paulus, got a permanent job as an insurance salesman at Aura Insurance Company, then known as the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Association, alias Land-Aura, we moved to Vihti in Nummela.
The reason was that my father's sales area had become Southern Finland. By then my mother Kerttu had given birth to us wild boys, Lars 4 years old, me (Leif) 2 years old and Klaus 1 year old. A little later my mother got a painful miscarriage and the baby girl died. As a result, she suffered from heavy bleeding.
My parents were able to rent a small old cottage from the lands of Hurri Manor. It was located in the forest, on the bank of the river near the manor. Because my father's business spanned all of southern Finland all the way to Vaasa, he made by his car business trips of up to two weeks, trying to sell various types of insurance, mostly fire and life insurance.
He was polite, good to talk to, and he was considered honest and trustworthy, which he always was. While he was on a business trip and my mother was ill, we boys often went to beg for food at Hurri Manor. The old widow lady there was always dressed neatly and had great pity on us hungry and dirty little boys.
Begging for food
One sunny winter day we went along a frozen river bank and made a beggar's trip to her and knocked on the front door. The mistress of the manor saw us but did not let us in because we were full of lice and fleas.
I heard her say to her maid: "Again those hungry boys of Norrgård are at the door begging for food. Don't just let them in because they have lice, but take and give to them fried pancakes out to the stairs. They'll eat there!" We got them on beautiful plates with cutlery of silver forks and knives. We didn't get a drink, but we ate pancakes with great appetite.
Pancakes with strawberry jam were a rare treat and we little boys managed to eat them with a fork and knife, even though it was difficult. I remember the warm dish warming my cold fingers. I'm still grateful for that old lady of the mansion because of her kindness, and now as an adult I understand her fear of lice and fleas. There were perhaps bedbugs in that little cottage too (?)
My mother had never been particularly diligent in cleaning home, and at that time it probably would not have been possible to remove bedbugs from the cracks in the walls of the wooden house. In addition, mother often had internal bleeding at the time and, of course, she was tired. Once my older brother Lars was seriously ill with malnutrition and after our father came home from a long work trip he saw Lars in critical condition.
I still remember the case. Lars was sick, malnourished and could not sleep or walk. My dad then gave Lars boiled raisins, feeding him with a spoon to mouth. It was as a result of my father's gentle care that he began to recover and heal. Back then, at the age of 2, I well understood that our father loved us at least as much or even more than our mother.
My mother got miscarriage and heavy bleeding. She later told me that my dad didn't take her to the hospital, though she asked for it. According to mother, dad just laughed at her. According to mother, this created a lack of confidence between them.
The lack of confidence only deepened because even though father had given mother a promise not drink alcohol as a condition for marrying, due to the nature of his job, father began to drink as part of his job demands. In order to be able to sell of fire and other insurance to rich farm owners, was an important part of work to offer them liquor to drink.
For father it was easier to guide drunken customers to sign insurance contracts. It was deception, though commonplace at the time.
One sad memory
Even though I was only 2 years old, I remember one home evening when my drunken father put some strong liquor in the coffee and gave it to Lars. Lars, then the 4-year-old started to mumble like a drunk and my mom got hot, saying, "Listen Paulus, now I'll put you to the choice: From this house, either a bottle of liquor or me and the boys have to leave, because for my children you must no longer offer alcohol to drink. Is it clear?"
Of course, my father promised to be sober because he did not want to argue with his wife in hearing the children. We didn't live long in Nummela, because my dad, who was used to drinking regularly, was no longer able to stop drinking liquor completely and didn't even want to. He cared for his family financially and did not intend to spend the rest of his life in living at renting house.
Nor did he like the fact that mother began to command him, bold and powerful in nature when they were both. Few men agree to be commanded by their wives. Sure, there are even men that like, but my dad was from another country. Drinking alcohol didn't hinder his work and he was always kind even when drunk.
My dad never got a hangover. It may have been because he had been involved in the illicit liquor-brewing of his two brothers in his youth, and had drunk often and a lot of very strong drinks. He also believed that without liquor he would not have been able to sell insurance.
In the end, my mother implemented her threat, took their wedding gift silverware, and us, her three sons with her, and we traveled to her parents in Alajärvi. She did it secretly, and I can only imagine what my dad felt in his heart, when he arrived at his dark winter home, which was deserted and cold.
You see, dad really deeply loved all his sons, as well as my mother, and he would not have wanted to divorce her even though he knew mother was unexpected and very jealous. Despite his several persuasions, mother did not want to return to him. That's why dad finally started looking for a new woman to start a new family with.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti