Anne Myking Gjeldaker

Anne Myking Gjeldaker (1834-1857) was Sigrid's mother.

I still remember the afternoon when I realized who was in this picture. I was sitting at my parents' dining room table in North Dakota, going through envelopes of pictures that belonged to my aunt Tess. We had been working on the project for several months and the faces in these old photos were becoming familiar. Although I had seen this photo before, it finally clicked. This was Lars Gjeldaker as a young man. This had to be Anne. And this baby, tilting her sober little head, was Sigrid.

Maybe it's because I knew this story would soon take a turn--Anne would die, Lars and Sigrid would be alone--but I couldn't stop thinking about the look on Anne's face.