All four of Stuart’s grandparents came from our neck of the woods in Norway. Many of the farms are within a two hour’s drive from here, so I had to go see them and find out if any relatives were still living in the area. I think I hit pay dirt, but I’m not 100% convinced just yet. We found the farms alright, but I also wanted to find second or third cousins to introduce him to when he comes to visit us next year. We made it to the Lange farm, which is where is last name comes from, but no one was home. We talked to a neighbor and it’s pretty certain a second or third cousin still lives there, but we couldn’t verify it. The farm was still being worked and it sits inland a little ways toward the end of the fjord that goes past Molde, the city where Kory was born. I took a ton of photos. It’s a nice place.
The Frøyset farm is where Stuart’s grandmother came from farm, but her mother came from the Sandness farm, just right next door. They are both about a twenty minute drive from where his grandfather lived. The farms are right on the edge of the fjord and have a stunning view of the snow capped mountains that lie behind the foothills across the fjord (see photo). The church where everyone from that side were baptized, confirmed, married and buried lies just across the water, and it’s one heck of a pretty church. It was a very peaceful and out of the way kind of community and the people couldn’t have been any friendlier.
Norwegians love it when Americans are trying to find their roots, so they are especially helpful with the process. I interrupted one guy’s lunch (his name is Kaare, same as Kory’s Norwegian name) when I banged on his door to ask about his ancestral roots. He didn’t mind a bit. He said they had a huge family reunion just last year and many came from America to attend. He knew his family tree names back two hundred years without batting an eye. I’m pretty sure he’s a second cousin to Stuart, but I have conflicting information between church book records and the farm history books, so I’m not saying for certain what their relationship is just yet. But based on how much I thought they looked alike (see photo), I’d have to say they share some DNA in there somewhere.
It’s so fun to meet total strangers in Norway and talk about dead people. I took a lot of photos, which I’m now anxious to get back home and share with Stuart. I took photos of the Frøyset farm too, but there was no one to talk to there, so that will have to be saved for our visit back to that sweet spot next year.
We got home just in time to make it over to The Good Teacher Inga’s house for dinner. What a lovely evening that was. It took me a while to relax around her because I still think of her as my teacher (she’s younger than me.) I remember once as a kid when we ran into one of my elementary school teachers in the store and I was in shock. Somehow I thought she lived at the school and had no life outside that place. It was a bit like that going to Inga’s house. It might take a while to transition her from being The Good Teacher Inga, to My Friend Inga, but I’m going to give it a shot.
Inga’s house sits high up on a hill looking smack dab across the fjord to where Kory grew up. It’s easy to see his old childhood school and even the house they lived in. Kaleb was bored to tears, all evening, but fortunately, didn’t make any of us miserable because of it. Maybe he was just too tired after his all day bicycle trip during school today. This Norwegian life is something else.
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