We spent a few days at my Dad's place in
Joensuu and went through a pretty impressive pile of old photos and artifacts from my life. This man has secretly kept little mementos all through the years, ranging from a poncho my Mom made for me (out of an old blanket she got in the
baby package all mothers gets from the government) to the Phantom suit I wore on my final year of high school.
Uh, like, not all the time, only during that one special last day of school. It's a long story, so just trust me when I say it is a tradition in Finland. And
the Phantom is just such a huge thing in both my and Jessica's families.
The Phantom - for those who won't know - is a story about a "half-drowned sailor, flung ashore on the terrible, blood-drenched Bengalla coast after pirates burned his ship and slaughtered his mates. The gentle Bandar pygmies nursed him back to fitness and became his everlasting friends -- as the castaway faced his destiny, donned costume and mask and was reborn as the first of the Phantoms.
"I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice!" he cried as he formally took "The Oath of the Skull" by firelight. "And my sons and their sons shall follow me!"
Only the Bandar and a handful of other secret souls know that all are not one and the same."
And, more importantly for me and for this blog, all the Phantoms have had the same name: Kit Walker. That would be a great name for our baby: we both love the Phantom, he surely stands for honesty and justice and all the good things in life and it's easy to pronounce in all languages. Kit's on the list.
