What we experience as children, we often only truly understand as as adults. I was eleven when my family left Finland and migrated to Australia. At that age, I could not possibly grasp the full weight of what was happening. To me, the biggest wonder was that I was about to fly on an aeroplane…
Tag: Childhood
Time Travelling
Those we love never truly leave us. I caught myself daydreaming today, though it felt like much more than that. In my mind, I had travelled back to the happy days of my childhood, back to my grandma’s house, back to everything that felt safe and warm and deeply loved. The Finnish word mummi has…
Christmas 1939
Written by Jaana M. H. JokinenTold by my father, Matti Samuli30th November 1939, Helsinki, Finland “All aboard!” The conductor’s booming cry drew my mother to her feet. “The train is leaving, let’s go!” I clapped my hands in delight. I could hardly contain my excitement. Though I was barely four years old, I had already…
