Sometimes what we miss about a place is the way we felt within ourselves when we were there. When the lilacs begin to bloom and the forest floor turns into a sea of white lily of the valley, that is when I miss you most of all. The air grows heavy with perfume, drifting through…
Tag: Finland
The Strength of a Bridge
What once felt like being caught between two worlds can become the ability to bring them closer. Some days, I carry Finland without noticing its weight. Other days, a familiar melody, a few Finnish words or a photograph of birch trees brings it so close that, for a moment, I almost forget how far away…
Christmas Wish
Sometimes we only recognise how much we have when we hear how little someone else has. Sometimes life has a way of stopping us in our tracks, quietly urging us to reflect. It’s so easy to get swept up in the holiday buzz, the endless plans, the lists, the preparations. This year my Christmas tree…
Grandfather Clock
What lasts across generations often does so because someone chooses to care for it, then places it in the hands of someone new. There is a particular kind of solace that lives in my family’s old grandfather clock. It hangs on the wall downstairs, keeping time with its steady, gentle tick-tock. On days when life…
Family Recipes
We honour what has been passed down to us by making it part of how we live and care for others today. Food has a way of carrying us home. For me, that home begins in a sunlit kitchen where the scent of fresh bread mingled with simmering soup, wrapping itself around everything like a…
Nineteen Fiftysix
A person’s life echoes through the stories of generations. In 1956, in the steady gentle rhythm of Helsinki life, my grandfather began each day in the little home he shared with my grandmother on Näkinkuja. I often find myself picturing those mornings so clearly, as though I can almost step into them. Their home was…
Roots & Wings
We are shaped not only by where we come from, but by the journey that follows. For those of us Finns who live overseas, identity is something tender. It is more than where we were born or where we live now. It lives quietly within us, in our language, our memories, and in that ache…
Cardamom Spice
Love passed down through ordinary moments can shape generations. There is a place in my childhood memories sweeter than almost any other – my grandma’s kitchen. There was nowhere on earth I would rather have been than in my mummi’s warm and welcoming kitchen, learning to bake pulla, that beautiful sweet Finnish cardamom bread whose…
Childhood Summer Cottage
A childhood filled with the freedom to explore and imagine nurtures a lifelong sense of wonder. Although Helsinki’s cobbled streets and majestic architecture formed the backdrop of my early life, my world was anchored in one small, precious place within that city. In the northeastern corner of Helsinki, where the pulse of the city softens…
Life is Short
Each person we lose holds a unique place in our lives, and their absence leaves a space no one else can fill. Have you ever received news that leaves you wandering through the day in a daze, your mind so full and heavy with thoughts that, no matter how much you want to be productive,…
