A day at home

And I do feel very much at home here, Jorunn and Thommas are very kind and welcoming. If I were not lucky enough to have wonderful family here it would have been a much shorter and more expensive trip. Especially after booking the hotels for the trips to Bergen and Oslo, I know how fortunate I am. Plus, we have fun, joking and sharing common interests.

Even though I woke a little earlier today, I stayed in bed until nearly 11. I had thought I would be on my own today, with Thommas at work and Jorunn had an appointment. Bjorg and I had planned to walk to Old Stavanger Tues or Wed, as she has to wear a blood pressure monitor all day today.

So imagine my surprise when I heard the doorbell at 11, and poor Bård had to get up and answer it. (He works very irregular hours so he sleeps when he can.) Next I heard Bjorg calling my name. I got dressed after saying hello and we spent 3 hours talking about how things were for our grandmother. Bjorg is the daughter of Magnhild, the out-of-wedlock baby my grandmother gave up for adoption just before going to America. It was only after her mother died that Bjorg found out her mother was adopted. Magnhild was raised by a childless couple who were very kind to her. Once Bjorg discovered the adoption she did a lot of detective work to find the birth parents.

By chance, her good friend lives next door to Thommas and Jorunn and even more chance that it came out when they chatted over the fence that Thommas' mother was a Lunde sister, the youngest of our grandmother's siblings. It seems Martha, our grandmother, was engaged to be married to a man and when she was pregnant the man left and married another woman. He signed the papers giving up Magnhild, so he was aware of the baby, but there are questions we will never know the answers to. I am nearly 100% sure my dad never knew he had a half-sister here, and whether my grandfather whom Martha met and married in America knew, I will never know. She had 3 boys with Sever Halversen, so it's sad she had to leave her only daughter here, even if Magnhild had a much better quality of life because of it.

It has also occurred to me that if our grandma had never gone to America I would not exist....

Today's pictures are all of Thommas and Jorunn's home, inside and out. In the front are 2 windows above the door, the one on the right is where I sleep (too much!). The picture with the yellow house is from the top of the street, "our" house is the next one after. The view with the boats is from the dining room window. The cozy library is where Thommas has been emailing me from when we planned my trip. As I said, lucky me!