Guest Post: Ann Wallace

Today I'm pleased to welcome my cousin, Ann Wallace, who tells us about her involvement in our book project.

"A number of years ago, Cousin Tess casually announced at the family reunion that she had obtained copies of letters Grandma Sigrid had written to relatives in Hallingdal, which had been saved in Norway all those years. Some time later I cornered her at a family wedding and compelled her (I like to think with my passion, but more likely with my nagging) to let me help her get them published. Skeptical, but relieved not to have to do her own typing, she sent me a packet of photocopies of the translation done by a "lady in the neighborhood" in North Dakota who could read the dialect, and of the originals. I sat down at my PC, and started typing.

I was stunned. And moved. Again and again, as I worked my way through those pages, I stopped to wipe tears away. I read the mother's perspective on well-known family stories of tragedy and loss. I felt the heartrending love and loneliness of a daughter across the ocean from her beloved father. Her story of my grandfather's birth told how, even as a baby, he was remarkable among a family of unique, gifted children.

In those letters, I got to know the great-grandmother I never knew, because in her writing, she let her pain, joy, prejudice, disillusionment, pride, and all the fragility of the human spirit come through. Through her, I better understand the strong family bond we have. And how an immigrant farming family from North Dakota produced (and continues to produce) so many remarkable people.

I am proud to have played a small (but pivotal!) part in the publication of Sigrid's letters. I find myself thinking about Sigrid often. Her example of faith and love is a constant inspiration, and her fine letters are a strong reminder that family contact is the most important thing in life. "