The view from the top of the hill!

I would like to make a comment about the picture in my heading. This is the view my Grandmother grew up looking at in Norway. She lived on the Todsvold Farm which was above the Alfjorden ( a beautiful fjord). She came to America with her sister, Yorgina ,to join her brother, John, in Iowa. She left her mother, her brother William, and her sister Torun in Norway when she was 15 years old. She wrote Torun in 1955 to please take a picture of the fjord and send it to her. The picture she wanted was the picture I took when I visited Norway in 2006. It is lovely to look upon but the great treasure for me is my understanding of the sacrifices my Grandmother made to come to America, a land of promise, and leave behind so much she loved. When I asked her why she left her mother and her home she said very simply, "If you got an opportunity to come to America you came." She only returned home to Norway once. However, she wrote many many letters home and received letters. She never forgot her family but she loved her new country. I will be forever grateful for her love, her example, and her sacrifices. Her name is Johanna.