"Home"

Christmas 1985

 We lived in Tromsø, Norway from 1984-1986.   It was by far one of the most beautiful places on earth.   And I spent most of our two years there looking forward to being nostalgic about it. 

Courtney was 6 and Morgan was 3 when we got there.  Our third child, Darcy, was born about 3 weeks after we arrived in Tromsø.  His birth was not the wonderful experience I had envisioned, but was very traumatic.  I had pretty bad postpartum depression, in addition to the stress one always feels when moving to a new home in a new country.  I did learn the language before going there, which was a big help.  Most Norwegians speak English, but in this small town 217 miles above the Arctic Circle, Norwegian was needed and used every day.

The days are 24 hours long in the summer-the Land of the Midnight Sun- but by August, when Darcy was born, the days were getting shorter.  By mid November, the sun left and did not come back until mid January.  The  mørk tid, "dark time" was really hard that fist winter.  In fact, the picture above, that we used for our 1985 Christmas card was taken in October.  We had to take it when there was still daylight!

We took a trip back to the States in the summer of 1985.   Today, quite by accident, I found a note I had written to my mother and step father after that trip.
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"August 8, 1985

Dear Mother and Chet,

Well, we all survived the trip "home".  The kids are all great travelers.  There were just us 5 and one man in the whole upper deck of the plane- so the stewardess gave us a lot of attention.  She took Darcy for a walk while we ate.  Courtney and Morgan got to see the cockpit!  Courtney was very impressed!  Morgan and Darcy slept a lot, Nick & I a little and Courtney not at all.

I was depressed all the way home, but once I walked into the house I felt like "big deal what was I worried about ?"   I don't love being in Tromsø, but home is home!

The kids are so happy and relaxed!  We all have jet lag, but that won't last.   Morgan starts in barnepark  the 19th.

Nick leaves tomorrow for 10 days to work at a trade  fair.  Then back for a couple of days then he leaves again for 2 weeks.  Oh well!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Love, Nancy, Nick, Courtney, Morgan & Darcy"

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So, home is home.

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