A Program of Surprises

Following the meal I was taken over to the local church where I met the organist (a British fellow named Richard). He showed me the new organ (which is an electronic instrument, similar to the one at Christ Lutheran in Regina, but using current technology and built by an individual organ builder, subsequently it had character like a pipe organ, and was easily the most realistic copy of a pipe organ sound I have ever heard from an electronic instrument). After a few lessons about the various buttons and settings Richard left me to play the instrument for myself. This was something my sister did when in Norway a number of years ago, she played the various pipe organs in the various churches they visited - I think the assumption was I would like to do that too. Well, I do love the sound of the pipe organ, but I am hardly an organist - my pedal technique is non-existent for one thing.

So I played through some hymns, then did some improvising. I tried to play the piano as well but it was locked. Soon the family gathering came to the church. There was to be a short program, with me playing the organ! Well I decided to bite the bullet and try something. I started by playing a couple of the hymns that my mom‘s cousin Kari had printed up (these were both from the album Dype Stille Sterke Milde, that features Tord Gustavsen‘s arrangements… Kari had been reading our blog!) Then I did an improvised piece beginning with a bell sound playing the melody of Dype Stille Sterke Milde. I got through it, and I think it sounded okay, now it was time for the next part of the program.

The oldest surviving cousin of my mom, Johan, told about the family history and some of his memories about the Nosterud farm. He was nice enough to tell all this in English so Beth and I could understand. For some of the stories he switched to Norwegian (these were some of the improvised moments) and these stories resulted in some laughter from the gathered family. Johan gave us his notes so that we could have something to share with the family back in Canada.

As part of the program another of the cousins, Per, played accordion while Kari Grande led the group in singing some Norwegian folk tunes. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music and the stories, but when the program ended, it was time for a group picture on the steps of the church then folks started heading for their various homes. It had been a full and interesting afternoon. Many of the folks there said they should get together more often and talked about doing something like this barbeque on a regular basis. Thus while Beth and my visit was the impetus for the gathering, it really had a life of its own. I hope they continue to meet so that the family history has a chance of being passed on to the younger generations.

I learned some new things on that day, things such as the information that my great-grandfather Christian Nøsterud (whom I never knew, nor actually did my mom) came to the United States (to Duluth, Minnesota specifically) in 1880 with his brothers, and that he was the only one who returned to Norway. Thus there is a good chance that we had Nosterud relatives in the United States that we never knew about (I think none of the family in Canada know this - or maybe I just wasn't listening, it certainly seemed to be a surprise for the Norwegian relatives to learn this information). An even bigger surprise was that my great-grandfather may have been married three times, not just twice. According to a history book from the region that the Nosterud farm is situated in, my great-grandfather was married to a widow with seven children for a year between the marriage to his first wife (my grandfather’s mother who died young) and his other wife who bore him 5 more children. No one had heard of this before, and it is a big mystery, all the book said is that this marriage took place and lasted only a year. I have a photocopy of the chapter with this interesting information that I can share with my family back in Canada (though it is written in Norwegian and they’ll have to do some translating).

The day ended with a few of the cousins sitting outside at Sissel and Terje‘s place visiting as the sun slowly set. The other two cousins who were there were a set of identical twins‘ Marit, and Oddlaug (as if it wasn’t hard enough keeping all the family members straight! Sharing stories and yummy Crème Carmel (left over dessert from the barbeque) the day came to a delicious and delightful end.