When I was 13 years old, maybe 14, I spent a month in
Oxford, England, on a language course. I stayed with an Oxfordian family, went to school during day and lived
British the rest of the time. That was my first real encounter with international people. Like Italians. And a girl from
Tampere.
When I got home from England, with 5 pence in my pocket
(due to a grave miscalculation of travel budget vis-á-vis the cost of purchasing an entire series of Peanuts books) and a brand new
"I'm with stupid" T-shirt on, my father broke the news to me. My grandmother, his mother, had passed away during my trip. My mom and dad just didn't want to ruin my vacation by telling me such tragic news from the home front.
A few years later, I spent a summer in
Harbor Beach, Michigan (that link just proves it: everybody is on the Web!) at the Schwartzes, as a summer exchange student.
(Great concept, especially since there's not much studying going on in the summer). Had a great time as I rode my summer-brother's BMX bike to the Harbor Beach downtown every day, to, uh, see people. I wasn't always that lucky.
When I got home, with one penny in my pocket
(due to a crazy shopping spree in the last days of my trip, when I finally found a real mall at a real American city), a brand new Michigan State baseball jacket on and listening to the
Van Halen 5150 album, my father broke the news to me. A classmate of mine, our neighbour, had died in a freak accident at his summer job.
I was convinced that every time I got out of Finland, somebody I know would die.
I remember coming home from Ottawa
(with no cash, but no matter, at this stage, I had got a credit card), my first trip on the job at the
Canadian Embassy, and being so happy to see all my relatives and friends in good shape. The curse had been broken.
The reason I started to think about this now is that Jessica's grandmother, and Hilda's great-grandma (and she
will be exactly that; great!) had a stroke today. No, no, she's fine now. Everything's all right, but I felt the same sensation of being helplessly in the wrong place at the wrong time and knowing that there is nothing I can do from here (or anywhere else), but feeling that I want to do everything.
I should have been with Jessica and Hilda today.
I'll be with them tomorrow.
