This is an accolade to my mother Sara Berg Rasmussen (6/14/1894 – 1/6/61)And to my father Trygve Racin Rasmussen Sr. (10/2/1892 – 10/3/64)To my husband Raymond R. Curtis (11/4/1913 – 9/6/70)Not least but last an accolade to my three sons who are truly real Americans with both American Cherokee Indian and Norwegian Viking blood in their veins and all three have Viking names. 

My eldest son Robert Trygve (my husband and I wanted to name him Trygve Robert) but thought Trygve would be a difficult name to pronounce so his name became Robert Trygve, but shortly after the christening Trygive Lie became the first general secretary of the United Nations and no one had any trouble with the name, but it was too late for us. Robert Trygve is now a brilliant talented building and designing contractor. 

My second son was born so very tiny and weak that we decided he needed a strong name, so he became Thor Michael after the Viking God of Thunder and he has truly lived up to his name. 

My third son was born 12 years later and was name Erik Raymond after Leif Erikson and his father. He was only 2 years old when my husband died very suddenly, but he is so very much like his father. 

My mother was truly a very outstanding lady, unusual and very much ahead of her time. She was the eldest of seven children and was a tall, regal, beautiful, shy young girl of 15 years when her father died. The youngest brother was only 9 months old, five children between. 

My grandmother could not cope with the death of her husband and went to bed where she stayed for three years. 

My mother always said that she had no youth, but went from childhood to adulthood overnight and became head of her family. My mother truly showed her tremendous ability to lead and to control and to hold her family together. She became a mother to her younger sisters and brothers and waited 10 years before she married my father. 

My father was a tall elegant man, always very erect with spats, walking stick, straw hat and always a fresh flower in his button hole in the summer time. 

My mother and father shared so many things and taught us three children so many, many things. 

First love and respect and obedience for our parents. Also for our relatives, for any adult with authority, from our bus driver to our doctor, from our shop keeper to our policemen to our teachers. 

We were taught good manners, also taught love for all living things, for art and for song and music. My parents shared a love for flowers and we had the most beautiful garden, totally designed by my father with natural rocks and flowers from the first crocus coming through the snow and frost. 

My mother was so very much ahead of her time, from the way she cooked and prepared all types of food to the way she decorated our home to the way she dressed and the way she gave her famous parties.   

My parents were married on New Years Eve 1919 and each New Year Eve became a gala affair. A sit down dinner for 20 or more good friends where many courses were served. All was served on beautiful china, crystal and gleaming sterling silver, candle light and flowers arranges by mother, hand ironed, starched tablecloth and monogrammed napkins.  

My mother’s electric stove had two “burners” and an oven with out a thermostat. My mother did not have an ironing board, nor did she have an iron with heat control. She did not have a vacuum cleaner or a mix master. But always served hot wonderful creative food, the most delicious cakes and cookies, could whip a quart of whipping cream by hand or whip 12 egg whites to stiff peaks. 

The New Years Eve parties were formal dress, long gowns and white tie and tails. How very proud I was of my parents. I always thought they were the most elegant and beautiful couple in the world. 

My father sang basso in a man’s choir and my mother with her lovely clear alto could sing second voice to any song. So we grew up with songs and music from popular tunes to national to classical to opera. 

My father also wrote songs and put them to popular melodies for any and all occasions, and always a special song for mother on New Years Eve, their wedding day. 

Another hobby of my father’s was genealogy and I have complete family trees back to 1100m both maternal and fraternal.

Mother spent weeks in the summer caning fruit and making jams, jellies, preserves and concentrated fruit juices.  Many berries and fruits grew in our own garden.  Vegetables were picked; all types of meats were cooked and placed into kegs in a salt solution.  Smoked legs of lamb and hams hung in cheesecloth sacks. Potatoes were stored for the winter. Winter cabbages were hung in cellar ceiling (basement).  Wood and coal was bought and stored to use for the long winter, also in the cellar or basement.   Our basement was literally dynamited off from rocks under our home, was always very cold but frost-free.  All our laundry was also hand washed in the basement in big wood tubs with huge scrub boards and green strong soap and boiled in a huge copper kettle. Then the clothes were rinsed several times and hung outside on clotheslines. In the winter, the rinsed clothes had to be taken out one piece at a time to be hung on the lines.  We had to use mittens so our hands would not freeze to the clothesline. 

Our Christmas tree was brought to our house by a local farmer with his horse and wagon. My hometown Stavanger, surrounded by farms, lakes and canyons.  My home was at the beginning of a long curving steep street which finally led up to the most beautiful look-out view where you see The North Sea, lakes, farms and the entire harbor area.    During the German occupation of Norway, (1940-1945) huge cannons were placed there and the shells used to whistle over our house aimed at English bombers, which were bombing Sola airport.  The Germans force evacuated many farmers to enlarge the runways.  We watched a plane being hit and seven English soldiers parachuted out of the burning plane and were shot to death by the German guns while still in the air, totally against the Geneva convention.  Then a few days later the English soldiers were given a full German Military Honor Burial. They placed German Honor guards at the graves for several days, soldiers ramrod stiff, not moving a muscle except at the change of guards.  Children would go up to them trying to make them react, but to no prevail.    Back to the Christmas tree. The farmer always had many loose branches and if the tree had any open spaces, he would drill holes in the stem and place extra branches there.  He would also always give mother a bunch of branches.  This mother would dip in plaster and then sprinkle with boric acid crystals for glitter. With other cut branches cut from leafless trees and which were given the same treatment, mother would make beautiful arrangements in big copper pots and decorate with red ribbons and ornaments.  Dad decorated the tree. He was very meticulous. We had living lights and never did I hear of any fires, probably because the trees were so fresh and what a smell, it filled the whole house.Mother braided paper basket from shinny colored papers. These were hung on the tree and filled with goodies for all the children to raid. Christmas Eve everything closed at noon. My family went to our beautiful church (Stavanger Domkirke built in the 1200‘s.)  After church, we went to Mormor’s house to have dinner.  My sister, my brother an I were the only children for many years before my mother’s two younger brothers married two sisters and another brother lived in California.  For dinner we had first Risen, rot (rice pudding) cooked slowly on the stove and served hot in soup plates with cinnamon and sugar on top.  A whole almond was place in one plate. This plate was always given to one of us children, but we were not permitted to search for it. My tow uncles would always tease us and make us believe they had found the almond.  The winner received a pink marzipan pig, which sat in the middle of the table.  Then followed pork roast, vegetables and potatoes.  For dessert was apricot cream (dry apricots soaked overnight, mashed and mixed into whipping cream) Delicious!  Later followed cookies, cakes, fruit (imported apples, grapes and oranges) and all types of nuts.  One of my uncles always had to leave and shortly after wards came Julenissen.  My uncle went down to basement, changed into old winter clothes and heavy boots, sprinkled snow all over himself and his skies. The Norwegian Santa Clause lives high up in the mountain. Presents had been placed in a huge sack, which he carried on his back, plus a huge wicker basket. He would bang his skies against the side of the house, so we children heard the noise and knew Santa Clause was here.  Mother would always manage to buy something broken, when we opened this package we were told Santa Clause had fallen on the mountainside.  I can remember being both scared and very excited at the same time.  I was a very shy little girl and lisped and I always had to sing a song for Santa Claus.  Santa Claus wore a mask and I can still remember the year I recognized my uncle’s sideburns.  The mask was getting old and had slipped a little, but even though I knew whom Santa really was I continued to love Santa Claus.  My husband and I rented Santa Claus suit and one of our good friends was Santa Claus every Christmas Eve.  When my two sons’ were small.  Our friend was so slender that we had to pad him with many pillows and he had a terrible time with these pillow while he was with us.  Our close friends with their children were with us and we still talk about “those good old day’s”.  My sons used to be the envy of all their school friends because Santa Claus really had come to our home.  Walking home from Mormor’s house on Christmas Eve was always special with the Northern lights, Aurora Borealis out in full force.  Everything was still and beautiful.  Silent Night, Holy Night, home to bed, safe and warm under wool blankets and down comforters with the bed room window panes frozen to the top.  The next morning was mother’s famous brunch with everything on the table made by mother except cheeses and butter.  Mormor had made the bread and blood sausage with raisins and spices.  All the different cold cuts and pates mother had made were sliced and beautifully served on decorated china plates.  All types of jams, pickled green tomatoes, and cucumber, herring and beet salads.  Many candles placed in brass candleholders of different sizes, also cut of stems from fur trees where wholes had been drilled for candles and decoration my mother was a master decorator.  She also made baskets of all this food, which we brought to older friends who were house bound.  Dad had made a bird-feeding tray with another shelf under it where he placed hot water to the bread crumbs would not freeze.  This feeding tray was fastened outside the dining room window and we would sit at the table and watch all the beautiful birds eat and in one of the trees on out front lawn hang the “juleneket”.  This was a huge bunch of wheat with dry seeds still on the tips and tied together with string.   (Christmas) Julen in Norway started when everything closed up at noon on Christmas Eve and they remained closed for the next two days.  Norway and other European countries have both 1^st and 2^nd Christmas day.  These wonderful days will never be forgotten and I hope that I have given my three sons memories they will carry with them forever.  Good memories my parents gave me and which helped me with things were tough, because all these wonderful memories and traditions made me strong and gave me reason to carry on and to grow. God Jul og godt nyttar 

Julehisen fra Solve Rasmussen Curtis