Last week I traveled around Norway, and observed close-up the mourning of a country that had suffered a shocking tragedy the week before.
All the while, in my own little drama, I was waiting for a biopsy report that I requested sent to me by email while I traveled. It was a tender and realistic time.
Yes, Norway is gigglingly gorgeous, but in my several trips there, a dark undertone has hovered like the shadows crossing the green valleys, or the low clouds hiding the mountaintops.
I have written about my first trip to Norway, and an unexpected traumatic incident on a ferry.
Thirty-five years later, researching hotels for a guidebook, I traveled there with my ex’s cousin. Although we enjoyed the beauty, the trip ended in sadness. More and more as the weeks passed, my companion walked with an increasingly noticeable limp, and right after we returned to the states, she was diagnosed with ALS.
A year later, researching again, I traveled to Norway with a man who was just beginning to show his abusive nature, after six months of an enjoyable relationship. I wrote about him here.
And then this recent trip, 15 years after the last, coinciding with the despicable terrorist attack on Oslo. The Norwegians felt it personally, as if the victims were family. And those of us visiting felt their deep pain and mourned with them in our own way.
Beauty cannot repel ugly, deadly things. But on this trip I also felt hope. In Bergen, I visited the Fantoft stave church, with Viking-era decorations, moved there from a small town to save it from neglect.
A few years ago the church, one of very few remaining Stave churches was burned to the ground by what my guide called a “satanist.” Another lone wolf who sought to destroy. But it was rebuilt in two years -- exactly as it was, as beautiful as it was-- by volunteers and donations.
And good news for me too. It was in Norway that I found out that the results of the biopsies I nervously awaited were negative.
So I can add that joyous moment to more sober memories of Norway.
And aside from the sadnesses, I will remember always the rebuilt Stave church and the strength of the Norwegians. We are reminded that even in the most beautiful of countries or the best of times, we never know what lies ahead. But we can face difficulties with resolve.
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ccdarling
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cancerdancer
Liberal Southern Democrat
Emily Rapp
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Comments
*R*
What a heartfelt post! Perseverance and resilience are essential.
I'm gonna have to start calling you Ms. Forest Gump. What an interesting and yet sad coincidence that you happened to be there during that horrible event. I was in Times Square a few years ago when that idiot tried to detonate a car bomb and failed. At the end of our show (Memphis) the NYPD took the stage to ask if there were any witnesses. Surreal stuff.
"even in the most beautiful of countries or the best of times, we never know what lies ahead. But we can face difficulties with resolve."
america the beautiful needs some down time
at the spa. full mud treatment.
"even in the most beautiful of countries or the best of times, we never know what lies ahead. But we can face difficulties with resolve."
america the beautiful needs some down time
at the spa. full mud treatment.
"even in the most beautiful of countries or the best of times, we never know what lies ahead. But we can face difficulties with resolve."
america the beautiful needs some down time
at the spa. full mud treatment.
My brother and sister-in-law who spent my brother's sabbatical in Norway were stunned and saddened by the news of the attack. They'd come to really love the place and people.
What gets into people's heads that urges them to destroy others?
rated