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[Viking <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Today caught me by surprise.  I'm blogging it here because you guys are
my friends and I know many of you will relate.
My father died last January, and since I haven't been able to get out to
 Oregon, my cousin sent me several boxes of his belongings.  It arrived
this afternoon.  Going through the stuff was more difficult than I had
imagined it would be.  There were quite a few surprises, one of which
was the 'find' of a gold nugget (actually melded wedding rings with a
diamond) that we thought had been stolen last year.  After my stepmother
died, my Dad had their rings melted down into one and I know it was his
prized possession.  He tried to give it to me in 2002, but I didn't want
him to take it off-he wore it as a necklace.  Anyway, I have it and will
 treasure it. Another thing that is really meaningful to me is a cuckoo
clock.  It's the typical Black Forest antique.  It belonged to my
grandfather.  Ron helped me hang the clock and it is working fine.
There are a couple of other things of moderate value, but the thing that
means the most to me is a poster that was made by someone unknown to me
for a memorial at the American Legion.  The poster contains several pics
of me and Dad, including one I had never seen before.  I have no idea
who put that poster together, but it brought me to tears.  I also lost
it while reading the guest book from the memorial where people wrote
little messages to him.  Finally, I have his war medals from WWII.
Those are irreplaceable, like my Dad.  He never talked much about his
time in the South Pacific, but I had looked up his division history and
knew things that he never told me.  Seeing his medals and ribbons and
pins really made me proud.  Finally, there is a silver coaster that has
the Finnish coat of arms as well as the city of Oulu flag on it.  My
family name is engraved on the back. It's priceless to me.  Of course,
there were dishes, clothing, his magnifying glass, lapel pins and
photos, as well as a history of the dairy where he worked for over 50
years.  Yup, my daddy really was the milkman, and I am glad he
befriended my mother. :)
So, today was bittersweet.  I am so proud to be Finnish.  SISU!

Bev
--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W