Life and Death, Inextricable

A few years ago, I stood at the window in a hospital room watching traffic. Outside was life, inside was illness and eventually, death.

Life and death are, were, and continue to be inextricable. Many of us try to ignore this fact -- until we can't.

Death is woven throughout Sigrid's letters, here it takes her neighbor's children. Even so, life stubbornly persists.

"We have a new neighbor, namely, Sander Lofthus. They came this spring and bought a quarter of land. They have now built a house and moved in. Margit was with us two weeks. They now have one daughter left. Their two sons died right after they came here this spring, that was sad for them, and the people are kind to them. They have gotten three calves and Knud Lokken (or Turke Knud) feeds them three months for nothing. That was worth a lot of money to them. And still he gave them a calf and helps them in many ways, so they say they like it here, so I suppose they do."