Lessons Learned: A blog about my life

First Grade. I am in front, in the blue dress, third person from the right. Second Grade-1969 When you go to school in Denmark, you are with the same students until you finish. There was a boy in my class named Tony. By the time we started second grade, he had become a terrible bully.…

Saturday, February 15, 1969 It was Fastalavn. This holiday is similar to American Halloween. In Denmark, the children went door to door. Instead of getting candy, we got coins. You knock on doors, and instead of saying ‘Trick or Treat,’ we sing a song called ‘Fastalavn Er Mit Navn.’ We would begin at 9:00 a.m.…

August 12, 1968 – First Day of School. I was excited to start school. I couldn’t wait to see what it was like since Sander had talked so much about it. I wore my prettiest pink dress with little yellow flowers. It was one Grandma had bought for me. I walked into the classroom and…

Christmas, December 24, 1967 After we had eaten Christmas dinner, it was time for dessert. Mom brought out an ice cream cake she had bought at the store. The cake was pre-cut, and in one slice, there was an almond.  It is a Danish tradition on Christmas Eve that whoever gets the almond gets a…

My Hair I loved my long hair. Ever since I was born, only my bangs had been trimmed. As far back as I can remember, people would look into the baby carriage I was in and ask Mom how old I was, amazed by how much hair I had. I began to understand that not…

Fall 1966 – Days spent with Grandma Helfred Sander started first grade. I wanted to start school too. I felt bad that I was left at the daycare by myself. One day, Grandma Helfred came to pick me up early. I was so happy to see her. I loved being with her. She listened to…

Mom met a man at a dance. His name was Bent Bjerrim. After the dance, Bent drove Mom home. He told her he was from a town called Esbjerg and he was here visiting a friend. He wanted to know if it was okay to call her the next time he was in town. Mom…

During the week when Mom had picked us up from daycare, she gave us dinner and then put us straight to bed. Since we went to bed so early every evening, I was not tired when it was nap time at the daycare. Besides, I was nearly four years old and had probably outgrown naps.…

Time spent with Dad On the weekends, Dad would often take out my braids and brush my hair. He would tell me how lucky I was to have such pretty, long hair. He made me feel loved. Dad always had something planned for us to do while we were together. He took us to the…

Friday, July 7, 1961- My Birth Johny called the hospital to see if Mette had given birth. He was told he had a baby boy.  He brought flowers for Mette and congratulated her on their new son. Mette asked him, “What son?” She was still in labor and had not given birth yet. It turned out that…