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Letters to the Editor

Grandma taught me a lot

To the Journal editor:

Imagine you are a 2-year-old girl standing in the dark in your mother’s freshly dug grave. The year is 1896 and the location is Cliff, Michigan, in the Keweenaw Peninsula. That was my grandmother, Margaret Raisanen-Kline, and her beginning. She and her siblings were placed in homes where work was plentiful and love was scarce.

Imagine going to school in ragged clothes and speaking more Finn than English. Jeers, teasing, laughter! Wouldn’t you want to maybe just chuck it in and give up? Margaret excelled in school and loved to learn. At one point she was asked if she would like to be a teacher. Her father’s answer was that a woman’s place was at home, barefoot and pregnant.

Margaret grew into a fine and beautiful woman. She was self-taught in weaving, sewing, tatting, knitting and crocheting. Margaret married and had four children. My dad was born on the kitchen table in a house in Eagle River, Michigan. Her life was utter poverty. Maybe her sole luxury was the National Geographic Magazine, where she, in her words, “traveled the world.”

Throughout the years, Margaret went to, what I call, the poorest of the poor and delivered babies when called upon. I am certain that she was never paid, and I would bet that she took along food and a knitted blanket (or some such thing).

In 1970, I was 16 years old and I bought a 175-cc Honda motorcycle. I was able to visit my grandma after a three-hour ride. I listened to her stories, helped her and learned a great deal. She had kerosene lamps and no running water. I traded my bike for an old Ford Torino, and we went exploring together. Did I become a teacher, and learn to sew, weave and bake because of her influence? You tell me!

Of all the axes (96 or so) in my collection, my grandma’s axe is my favorite. It is battered, bruised and doesn’t look like much. It is the axe that she used to beat the Great Depression after her husband had left her.

Are you in the dark, in a hole? Hardship is always a bad thing, but the human spirit can be an amazing thing.

It ain’t easy.

David Kline

Green Garden

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