sisu

 me:  SISU

him: What?

me:  SISU,  Finnish Sisu.

him:  (nods)

me:  You have sisu !

determination
strength of will

stamina

courage

stubbornness
positive attitude

 him: SISU (big smile)

Dad is still in hospital, but he has sisu.  He is OK.

healing power of hand stitch

I borrowed back the little quilt I gave my dad for his 90th birthday.
He uses it for naps.  (see here)

I wanted to stitch into it, strengthen it.
I kept it for about a week but only got half way through.
He needs it and I gave it back to him yesterday. 

"If you are an adult child, you may feel that you are losing your father when he goes into care. 
Even if you haven't felt for a long time that you needed your protector, just the knowledge in the back of your mind that he was there provided a kind of security. 

You don't know it is there until you don't have it anymore."  Peter S. Silin

sisu

sisu: courage, pluck, stubbornness, stamina, obstinacy

sisu: stick-with-it-ness, nerve, pride, spirit, perseverance

sisu: energy, gumption, heart

sisu:  facing down life and the changes ahead

never give up

I have been reading about Finland while visiting my Dad this week.  

 

About the astonishingly beautiful aurora that happens in the sky in winter there.  Green, blue, red, violet.  

About the 30 year war between Sweden and Russia (1293 - 1323) that divided Finland between those two countries for 800 years.

About the German advance on Leningrad over the top of Finland in World War II and then the retreat when everything in Northern Finland was burned including the city of Rovaniemi. 

This month I begin a third year of journalling with thread, one skein of embroidery floss every day.  

                                                  never give up