Tosten had $1.00 when he started in Minnesota. The first summer he earned $55 working for two elderly neighbors, cutting hay with a scythe. When winter came, he went to Wisconsin to work at a logging camp.
While he was gone, his brother Lars arranged tickets for Sigrid, Anna, Michael, and baby Lars to come to America. Companies were competing against each other, lowering the price for passage. They bought five tickets -- two adults and three children -- for $65. The extra ticket was for a young man who had worked for them in Norway. Tosten was glad to buy him a ticket, as he could help Sigrid and the children during the trip. They arrived at Lars' house on May 26, 1885.
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So often I listen to single people talk about the stress of a "long-distance" relationship when they live as close as the next city or the next state, or even across the country, with phones, email, efficient postal mail, and plane travel, available to keep in contact. What a contrast to Tosten and Sigrid, who didn't see each other for many, many months, with only mail transported by boat to keep in contact. It reminds us that relationships will survive when we are committed to their survival.
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