My son is getting married the day after tomorrow. Our family is living in that tender space just before a wedding, where joy, excitement and nervous butterflies all seem to breathe side by side. There is laughter, last-minute preparations, quiet emotion, and that sense that something beautiful is almost here. And what a joy it…
Baking with Grandma
There are certain smells that do far more than drift through a house. They open doors to the past. They loosen memories that have been sitting quietly in the heart for years. For me, the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, rich with butter and cardamom, does exactly that. It carries me straight back to…
One Day in September
The morning after arriving in Australia from Finland, my family went for a walk from our new home at the migrant Midway hostel in Maribyrnong. I suppose we wanted to see this strange new country we had landed in, to step out into it for ourselves and try to make some sense of where life…
The Magic Word
To an English-speaking ear, Finnish can sound a little blunt. The words do not always arrive wrapped in softness. They are not dressed up or sweetened unnecessarily. Finns tend to say what they mean and mean what they say. There is a plainness to it, a spareness, a certain unvarnished honesty. To some, it can…
Hope
Have you ever wondered why, in the very worst moments of human history, hope so often seems to rise most clearly? It is one of life’s great mysteries. In the midst of war, natural disasters, sickness, grief, and all manner of human sorrow, when everything appears broken and the future feels uncertain, hope still finds…
I Found It!
When my brother and I were children, we loved playing hot and cold. One of us would hide some small object, and the other would become the hunter, searching, guessing, listening for clues. The closer the hunter came, the louder and more excited the cries would be: “hotter… hotter…” until at last came the triumphant…
Bedtime Story
When I was a little girl, about six years old, living in Helsinki, one of my mother’s dearest friends came to our home for supper. Her name was Eila. She lived nearby and had known our family since before I was born. She belonged to that rare kind of friendship that seems to outlast the…
Timeless Treasures
When I was a little girl living in Finland, I had a friend who was woven deeply into the fabric of my childhood. Her name was Tiina. We lived only a few hundred metres from each other, and we were in the same class at school. Hardly a day seemed to pass without us together….
Wait a Minute
There is something in me that longs to find joy in every single day. I know, of course, that some days make that easier than others. Some arrive carrying lightness, offering up small gifts almost without asking. Others feel heavy from the moment we open our eyes. They ask us to endure more than we…
Wood-smoke and Cinnamon
Finland is beautiful in every season, but autumn has always felt the most personal to me. There is something about it that reaches past the eyes and settles deep in the heart. Summer does not simply end there. It seems to gather all its remaining beauty and leave in one final, breathtaking blaze. The forests…
Apples of Gold 