Words and memories

We had an unusual reason to gather to my late grandmother's old farm, these days run by my uncle and his family. The siblings needed to make the estate inventory and this was used as an excuse to have, if not the entire family, at least a good portion of our large selection of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren present for the Midsummer's Eve.

Though most of the midsummer's was pouring rain, we had a chance to make a good bonfire - several meters tall - and I also had the chance to use the old sauna I had last been in some fifteen years ago. Otherwise, the rain served as an excuse as we browsed through my grandmother's belongings: in some ways, a weird disruption of privacy, in many other ways a wonderful way to remember the wonderful person and the many stories she had saved for us. We also learned some - there were many letters and diaries dating back to when she was 13, wondering about life and love. It was a grandmother I never knew, and reminded us of the long, rich life she had a chance to live.