A Connection to our Past

 


Our trip to Norway & Finland this fall is a connection to our past. Greg's mom, Ephame Adeline Tjugum, was 100% Norwegian. We decided it was time for Greg to visit the land where his mother's (and father's) ancestors came from. We've had fun doing some research and learning about Ephame's grandfather (on her mother's side), Salve Nils Klungland, who was born in Norway in 1874; came to the America in 1892; and married Ella Bertine Smithback in Wisconsin. Ephame would often tell us about her memories of her grandparents (who lived in a house behind her childhood home in Madison) who spoke Norwegian. 




On Ephame's father's side, Ivar Tjugum, came to America in 1874 when he was 17 years old. Part of our trip will be in Tjugum, Norway where Ephame's grandfather Ivar was born. 


Greg has not been to Norway before, but I traveled there in 1972 when I was 18 years old as part of a trip that I made to visit Siru, my Finnish AFS sister. Siru lived with our family for a year when I was 17 and she was 18. 














Siru at the Arctic Circle at midnight in 1972.










Betsy at midnight in Norway in 1972.

Both Greg and I are now the ages where these connections to the past that helped form who we are today seem really important. So after spending time in Norway (including traveling to Tjugum, Norway) we will meet Siru and her husband in Finland for a reunion. The final part of our trip will be a brief "stop-over" in Iceland which we are calling "A Taste of Iceland." 









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