Sasu And The Bag

Sasha, five months old, is the size of our cats. Or my bag. She loves playing, eating apples and licking people in the face. She also thinks it’s a lot of fun to harass Tomi the Cat. Mud baths are her passion. 

I was asked to write about my family. What could I say to describe them the way they really are? And are they really what I think them to be? I could give you a list of adjectives, but it would make little sense because every person gives words different, specific meanings.  I could write about the things they do and have done in life, but is it really important?

In general, family is a difficult matter. One should be grateful – but to which extent? One should love unconditionally – but is that always possible? If friends behave like idiots, it’s easy to get rid of them, one is usually stuck with family until the bitter end. I don’t know about other people, but I have personally found it very difficult to accept that my parents are real persons (and not some kind of saints) with feelings and flaws. Accepting the fact that my little brothers are adults is more difficult.

So. My family. Mother and father. Unmarried but still going strong after 30 years. Apparently they met when my mum went to steal some potatoes with a friend. They are complete opposites. They both speak Finnish and they both belong to the so called working class. Although. My dad keeps himself busy with about three businesses (apart from his real job), so maybe he’s a capitalist? It doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that he works hard, never speaks, loves his family and is addicted to chocolate. My mother used to work in three different places. The result was some kind of burn-out, after which she went back to school to learn Swedish. She talks a lot, listens less and wants to help the whole world.

Whereas I am similar to both of my parents, my brothers (who are fraternal twins) really “belong” to one parent each: Alf is tall, big and talks little. Walter is small, blonde and never keeps quiet (he’s also really good at keeping secrets – he’s been together with the same girlfriend for three years and my family has only seen her once, by accident. That’s quite an accomplishment in a place where everybody knows everything about everyone). We’re not really close (unfortunately), but I hope that will change. Twins run in the family: my mother has 5 sisters, and two of them (+my mother) have twins.

Then there are 2 cats, 1 dog, 5 aunts, 2 uncles, 16 cousins and a whole other bunch of people around Finland that could be considered family.