MOM & DAD

(Linda)

They met in a bar just like mom and I.  Even in the very same bar - The California Bar in Rota, Spain.

The Norwegian girl - Linda - worked in that bar, and she thought that this American man was a perfect match for a single Norwegian woman like mom.  She was the one who started the whole thing by setting them up for a blind date.  Who knows what would have happened without her?  Maybe no website of mine!?  When I met dad, I liked him immediately.  He looked so nice and calm.  I tried to tell that to mom, but I guess she didn't understand me well enough.

They usually met at the bar, while I had to sit and wait in the car.  Luckily mom invited dad to our home in Chipiona from time to time and I could get to lie in the crook of his arm on the sofa and take a nap.  I loved that!

I don't believe it was love at first sight, but after a lot of these meetings, plus a little distance and time - it turned out that mom and dad were meant for each other.  Dad came to visit us in Norway on 22 June 2005, a year and a half after mom had invited him by email!  I am not allowed to say what she wrote, but it was obvious that dad didn't forget the letter!

SLIDESHOW

Dad got to experience the St. Hans festival in Norway including a big bonfire and dancing by the sea.  It seems to me that it is a custom that also has roots in Spain, and it was a lot of fun to find out.  I got to be with them everwhere they went.  We were at the Fredriksten fort here in Halden, the antique car parade, the food and wooden boat festival, the Dalen Hotel; we even drove up north in Telemark and found some snow in beginning of July!  I didn't particularly like that!  Meanwhile, dad laid down in the snow and tried to make a snow-angel!  We went on many long walks in the forests and had 16 really super days together.  I know that mom and dad talked together and they got along really well.  Mom felt extremely sad when dad had to travel back to Spain.

But these days there is internet and MSN messenger - and they talked everyday on the net, and the whole time they sent cyber-kisses.  I heard at least a thousand every time they started or finished talking together.  I must be sure to ask mom next time to turn the sound off!  One day dad called from Spain and proposed to mom.  It was even on Anuska's birthday.  Mom immediately said yes.  I believe that mom had thought and hoped that this would come true.

So in September dad came back on a small trip together with his daughter Anuska.  And guess how they surprised mom when she picked them up at Gardemoen airport in Oslo; dad got down on his knee in the middle of the arrival's hall and proposed again with a ring and all!  Anuska took a movie of it all and you can see it here!  Unfortunately I didn't get to be there with them because dog's are not allowed inside the airport terminal.  But I have seen the film many times at home.

FILM

SLIDESHOW

Mom felt it was very nice to also have Anuska visiting us.  They knew each other a little from mom's trips to Rota Spain, but now they had the opportunity to get to know each other better.  I loved Anuska from the first day - and happily laid down on the sofa with her.

Again there were many fine walks in the forest.  One day we picked blueberries (something Anuska had never done before). Another day we were up by a beautiful lake where dad took many nice pictures of us all.

But the nice days went by too fast - and they returned to Spain, and mom and I were all alone again.  Fortunately they had agreed that dad would come back in the beginning of December - something he also did!

In the meantime, mom began to knit a Norwegian sweater for dad in red, white and blue, just like the colors on both the Norwegian and American flags!  The pattern is called "Marius" and is very typical in Norway.

What do you know? - After she was finished with his sweater - she began to make one for me too.  I'm not quite sure that I am so happy for that, but we look very good when we go out together wearing the same sweater!

It was a great Pre-Christmas time for us together with dad.  Lots of good Norwegian food that dat had never tasted before - and drinks that went perfectly with the food.  I think that mom wrinkled her nose less than dad did when they drank the aquavit

Dad tasted Lutefisk, Mølje og Rakørret.  For Christmas eve it was ribs and sourkraut with some Norwegian meatballs and sausage.  But mostly, all I ever got was the smells - Very little of all that delicious food came my way!  Mom is afraid that I will get diahrea or something like that afterwards.  Grrrrrrrrrrr...

SLIDESHOW

After midnight (Christmas eve) we opened the presents which lay under the Xmas tree.  There was also one for me!  I had already smelled which one earlier, and I knew there was something delicious inside the packaging.  I was so happy when I finally got permission to open my present that I just tore the paper off!

On New Year's eve Julie (my sister) & Ida came to visit.  Dad made a typical American xmas dinner with turkey, sweet potatoes and all the right trimmings.  Mom was very proud of dad for making such a nice dinner.  They all sat around the table for a long time stuffing themselves before going up to Fredriksten fortress to watch the fireworks at midnight.

I can tell you that Julie and I heard it all from the house too.  We hid under the blankets in mom & dad's bed and shook until they came home again!

Dad returned to Spain again, and then in March of 2006, mom also went away.  Julie and Ida came here to take care of me.  I didn't get permission to be with mom when she went to Florida to meet dad.  They were going to be married!

They just had a few days to shop for a wedding dress and tuxedo - and to find the right place to have the ceremony.  Fortunately, Anuska and Michael had already looked around at many places, and when they showed mom and dad a place in a park by the beach, they fell in love with it.  You can see from the pictures how beautiful it was there.

Mom's Flowers

Gry (mom's daughter) had ordered the bouquet of flowers for mom over the internet from Melbourne, Australia.  Mom's bouquet was made with Champagne colored roses like Gry had in her bouquet when she was married (20 August 2005); lilies -of-the-valley like mom's mother had when she was married (24 April 1924); and white Märta lilies which mom loved. They represented 3 different generations of wedding bouquets!  I heard later that mom had tears of happiness in her eyes when she saw the flowers.

The 17th of March, 2006 at 12:00 noon they were married by the beach in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Anuska was mom's maid of honor and Michael was the best man.  Also there were dad's sister Pat, and her other son Darren, and also Darren's friend David.  It was a little but very cozy wedding.  Dad stood tall in his tux and waited for his bride who came on a flower-petal covered path to stand by her man in front of the minister and witnesses.  Reverend Darlene held a beautiful ceremony and mom and dad promised to love and honor each other til death do they part.

Romantic violin music played by the musician Julie made the moment unforgetable.

They had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called "the Olive Garden" before going home to have champagne and a delicious wedding cake; all of which dad's family had provided, and good company!  At night they all sat around in the backyard and watched some racoons wandering about, probably thinking they should get some wedding cake too.

As you can see, the same thing happened with dad as had happened with me. The only difference is that he married mom while I only adopted her.

Minister's Speech