Tag: grandmother

Don’t think I’ll live that long

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What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

Writing Daily Prompt

Quoting, Who Wants to Live Forever, A song by Queen. I don’t think I will have a long life. I think it has to do a lot with your genes and not with how healthy your life is. Some people die without having to do much, and then some people smoke and drink alcohol but still live a long life. None of my relatives have lived to their 90s. Except for my Dad’s half-sister, I don’t know if she’s still alive. Her kids don’t tell me anything. She was at least 91 years old in 2023.

My big sister died when she was 10 due to illness in 1983. My Dad’s mother passed away at 81 in 1989, and my mum’s mother died when she was 86 in 2003. She had a stroke and lived in a retirement home for 10 years before passing away. Mum died when she was 68 from cancer in 2013. Then, my Dad died at 79 of pancreatitis last year. On March 8, it will be a year. I don’t think I’ll have a very long life. I wouldn’t know what to do with the life I’ve been given. One thing is for sure: the world will be different in 30-35 years. You don’t know how much life you got because anything can happen. I wouldn’t want to live forever. There are enough problems in the present.

I think I don’t want to look further than what might happen this year or in a couple of months. I always try to be careful in anything I do. You can’t choose at what age you’re going to die. Your life can end in a blink of an eye, or you might be lucky enough to live a long life. Even if you’re careful, you can still meet bad luck, so you never know. You can only hope for a long life, but nothing is certain. Death will come no matter what. Life is for the living, and you should be able to live it the way you want. As long as it doesn’t disturb others, you might get a long life if you want it. Try to get along with others, and you will avoid many problems.

Writing101:God, the serial killer that never gets caught (part 2)

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This is the 2nd part of this story. I would say enjoy but it’s not really to enjoy. It’s a sad subject after all.

My father’s mother had diabetes which made her blind and lose her leg. I only saw her in a wheelchair because those things happened before I was born. Her life hadn’t been easy. E.g. she had to send her son to Denmark because of the winter war in Finland. She never saw him again. I remember my grandmother being very kind and she used to babysit my sister. She was very lovable. When we visited her in the retirement home, she sometimes gave me pocket-money. She spent the Christmas Eve with us. She got along with my other grandmother very well.
On Christmas in 1989 she was taken to the hospital. She had high fever and high blood pressure. That Christmas she didn’t spend it with us. She knew her time had come. To make the story short. On New Years Eve, 1989 they called from the hospital and told us she had passed away. She was 81. The new year started without her.

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May all your Christmases be white

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©Mia Salminen, Christmas 2006

Day 10 on Writing 101 brings back those childhood memories around Christmas. Those were the best Christmases I remember. My sister and both of my grandmothers were still around. We always celebrated within the family. I don’t really remember those Christmas dinners with my sister but I do remember when we looked through the oven window where the ham was getting ready. I remember it was at night but maybe it was late evening. We thought it was so exciting. Christmas itself was fun when you’re a child.

My mother made all the meals herself from scratch. We also made gingerbread cookies. In the Finnish traditions, the Christmas dinner is a big part of the celebrations. It’s on Christmas Eve. It’s a way to get the whole family around the dinner table to eat various Christmas cuisines. Before dinner we had glogg (glögi in Finnish) with almonds and raisins. Some adults put some alcohol in it too. It was usually drank after going to the cemetery to put candles on the grave. It was cold outside so it was always nice to drink something hot afterwards.

The table was always nicely set. With two plates, one small and one a little bigger. One fork and knife each. Crystal glasses and napkins nicely folded. We also had real candles on the table. We always had ham. A turkey wasn’t very common at the time. First we ate cold food like freshly salted salmon and pickled herring with boiled potatoes. It was too salty to eat without. Then it was time for the warm food. The ham was the only cold one. There were carrot casserole, liver casserole (that I didn’t like) and rutabaga casserole. With that there was rosolli, a Finnish dish. It contains boiled beetroots, carrots, potatoes, pickled cucumber. Some people might put apples and/or Baltic herring in it too.

When the dinner was over it was time to move to the living room. As a child this was the best moment, presents and maybe Santa. Before that we would eat dessert. Sometimes we had cake bought from the store or we had Prune jam pastries (Joulutorttu) and ginger bread cookies.

The people around the dinner table has since then decreased. But that’s the way it goes. Those dinners were the best I have ever had.