Some journeys are so vast they seem almost impossible, and yet they happen quietly, without fanfare, written into the lives of those who simply keep moving between one world and another. That was what came to mind when I read about the small migratory birds that leave the Arctic coasts and the Nordic tundra each…
Tag: home
All I Wanted
When I was a little girl and someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never hesitated. I didn’t dream of empires or impressive careers. I simply said, “a mum.” That was all I ever wanted. Not just in name, but in the deepest, most wholehearted way. To love. To…
Family Recipes
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 warm embrace. I can still hear the gentle clink of utensils, the soft hum of the oven, and above it all, my…
Bless Your Heart
Our differences don’t have to divide us; instead, they can enrich our lives and deepen our understanding of one another. At the moment, our home feels like a linguistic smoothie, with accents from all over the world blending together under one roof. Our friends from Florida are staying with us for the month of November,…
Love at First Sip
Joy has value simply because it brightens our lives. Allow me to share a little secret with you. Every morning, without fail, I begin my day with a steaming cup of Masala Chai tea, lovingly made and brought to my bedside by my husband, Peter. It is one of the small but deeply cherished pleasures…
I Still Call Australia Home
To belong to two cultures is not to be divided, but to become a bridge between them. Once again, it came over me with full force, like a bolt out of the blue. At the moment, we have Peter’s Finnish relatives staying with us on their very first visit to Australia. It has been such…
Childhood Home
Written by Jaana M. H. JokinenTold by my mother, Mirja AnneliSeptember 1949, Kallio, Helsinki, Finland Slowly but surely, the days were growing colder and darker. School had started again, and autumn had arrived. I have always been a summer person, so even as an eight-year-old, I was not at all pleased by the changing season….
Homesickness
We do not have to fix every ache of the heart; sometimes we only need to give it space. I was struck by a feeling of homesickness this afternoon. Most of the time, I move through my life without feeling it too sharply, but every now and then it comes over me with such force…
Rustic Wisdom
A life between two countries is rich and beautiful, but that richness often carries a quiet grief. During our last visit to Finland, I had the privilege of staying in my late mother-in-law’s childhood home, in a small village in the Finnish countryside. These days, that ancestral homestead belongs to one of the cousins, Hannu….
Road Closed
When life feels overwhelming, faith gives us somewhere safe to rest. On rainy summer days, my mum used to send us children up into the attic. As an adult, I understand why. Ours was only a small cottage, and when rain kept us indoors, we children must have made the walls ring with our noise,…
Apples of Gold 