hey jud

Friday and Saturday were devoted to Norway's finest - the most famous artist, Edvard Munch, and the less well known but equally impressive sculptor, Gustav Vigeland. My knowledge of Munch was broadened beyond the Scream and Starry Night to a vast and diverse collection of paintings and other media examples of his work. At the entry, a series of short films about his life set a context for his work that made our gallery tour even more enjoyable. From there we walked across a lovely park by the Natural History Museum to find our destination at the DOGA, the Norwegian Center for Design and Architecture, closed for Pentecost. We continued our walk into Grunerlokka only to discover that also meant most stores, including the design store, Norway Says, would be closed as well. Our design pursuit instead became a fitness and sightseeing walk, through some interesting ethic neighborhoods. We did find one business that was universally open on Pentecost, the neighborhood frizor, or barber, where I could have gotten a close clip along with all the young boys in anticipation of the holiday weekend.

We knew our plans for the next day would be safe since most of the Vigeland sculptures are outdoors in Frogner Park. As we sat with our lattes in a cafe next to the park, we saw people arriving with blankets, chairs and even small portable grills, obviously prepared to spend the day. By the time we entered to find the famous sculptures, the place was teeming with families at the water park and sunbathers everywhere on the grass. Though we didn't find the main gate with the only signs telling where things were located, our meandering walk led us to happily discover what we had come for all on our own. That included a lovely garden restaurant on a shaded veranda overlooking the Frogner ponds and the unexpectedly open, even on Pentacost, Vigeland Museum, the original home and studios of the sculptor now housing the remainder of his work.

Here's a mix of photos from the two days.

After seeing a number of articles in architecture magazines about the year-old Oslo Opera House and then spending an afternoon last week visiting an exhibit on all of Snohetta's work, we signed up online for a building tour in English. We arrived slightly before noon, did some initial reconnaisance, located the cafe for our morning lattes, toured the building with our guide, returned to the cafe for a very relaxed late afternoon lunch/dinner and finished the day with a final rooftop climb. The building truly is spectacular; every element works together to provide an extraordinary experience of fine craftsmanship and artistic details in what will become a beautiful seaside setting. It couldn't have been a better last day.

We are all here this morning thinking about you and your impact and influence on us as we celebrate your life. Strange thing is that, while many of us have had many years to say the things we thought, some thoughts have never been said before. So these are some of my personal reflections. I'm sure all here today have their own memories of your impact on their lives.

Dad, you were always into sports and know that in the game of life, the final score is recorded when the game is over. At 93+ years your game was well into extra innings and we had a call in to the bull pen for relief pitching. But let me check the score card.

1. Married for 69 years - home run.
2. Dad for 67+ years - 4 children.

3. Grandpa for 43 years - 10 grandchildren.

4. GGPa for 17 years - 13 great-grandchildren.



Dad, it looks like you hit for the cycle - home run, triple, double and single. Wow, pretty amazing.

When you grow up, and I'm thinking about me now, you think that you are supposed to do a lot of things independently. You don't think much about the context of growing up, only what you should be doing and what you should become. So many expectations and so little said. You can easily lose sight of "where it all began".

At various times in the recent past I would do something and Judy would say, "You're turning into your Dad". You might imagine what I was doing. But as I reflect more closely, she was right in many positive ways and it happened a long time ago. Dad, there were many ways you shaped me, and all of us, and I'll put a few on the score card.



Sports, Coach: Your athletic skills and interest were passed on - you were my little league coach - you supported us when we played - sports became a critical part of me.



Education, Learning: PTA, emphasis on good grades and push for higher education - we carry that ideal that the next generation does better than the last.



Family Focus: You took us to church, on family trips like Nantasket and the Cape (are we there yet?), but the major impact was when you built the family house on Nantucket 30-years ago - a place for multigenerational family life - thank you.

Photographer: You documented in film and photos the family growth - it's well recorded. I followed this path too.



Hard Work, Loyalty, Achievement: A great salesman, you worked your way up the corporate ladder, pretty much with one company, ATF - seems a few of us also followed that consistent path.



Humor: We liked your humor - a very quick wit delivered with a twinkle in your eye - often a laugh at a serious time. A classic and recent "one liner" happened at Mom's 90th birthday celebration. As lots of family and friends were saying nice things about Mom there was an ebb in the conversation. You had been quiet the whole time and Mom turned to you and said, "Bill, what do you have to say?" You looked over at her and said "Amen", which brought lots of laughter.

So I say now Dad, thank you, we love you and we miss you. Amen Dad, Amen.

Dewey and Kira's wedding was a lovely event and nice balance of tradition with innovation; the wedding recessional was Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered'. Just like Walter did for Meg and Jason's wedding, their friend, Fred, became a web-certified Reverend for the ceremony. His own loving relationship and lengthy thought on what that meant was expressed in his 'charge to the couple', which ended with a poignant exploration of how a lasting relationship should be based, not on expectations of specific results, but rather on the expectancy of an undefined, yet mutually agreeable result. It's a distinction I want to remember.

We arrived in Charleston a day early so had plenty of time for walking the historic district and getting a sense of the place. Here are some photos collected from this trip.

The reading Meg did at Grandpa H.'s funeral:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

The revision Meg thought about reading at Grandpa H.'s funeral:

The steadfast love of the Red Sox never ceases,
their mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

"The Red Sox are my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in them."

The Red Sox are good to those who wait for them,

to the soul that seeks them.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Red Sox.

We all know, Grandpa would have loved it.