Stars in heaven

Ha-ha-ha and coo-coo, coo-coo

When we moved to Tenerife, my dad continued to work on ships. Sometimes he could be gone for half a year at a time. We missed him terribly, and it must have been difficult for Mom to be alone with our five children - wild and inventive as we were.

"Is Dad coming soon?" we asked Mother, again and again. Because it felt like an eternity every time he was gone. Back then, it was not as easy to get in touch with each other as it is today. You wrote letters, called or telegraphed. These were the only means of communication. Not everyone had a phone, neither did we. Once before Dad went back to work, he told everyone in the family that the moon is the same no matter where in the world you are. "When you look at the moon at night, you see the same moon that I see. And there," Dad said, pointing north, "you see the Big Dipper. It is made up of seven stars. One for each of us. We can look at it every night, and then we can think of each other."

In the evenings we were out on the porch thinking about Dad.

Amanda showed me where the Big Dipper was, and we counted the stars together: 1 for dad, 2 for mom, 3 for Karl, 4 for Eddie, 5 for Amanda, 6 for Ella Sofie and 7 for Oliver. My heart beat a little extra fast when I saw Dad's star. It felt like he was near me, even though he was far away.

The Big Dipper

High in the heavens you shine over us,

The Big Dipper, and watch over all of us.

Cos we're not alone so long as you're there, and all the stars in the heavens.

You're so far away, Dad, yet so near.

Take care of my beloved Dad, cause I love him so. There's nothing I'd rather

do, than see your nice smile, give you a hug

and hold your hand again. I cannot wait to see you again.

In my heart you and me are always together,

wherever you are in the world.

Ha-ha-ha and coo-coo, coo-coo

We lived on the second floor in a four-story block. Under us was a tobacco shop. Further down the street were more apartments and shops. Our living room was full of exciting things. Dad had brought many of them home from his travels.

Among other things, there was a white statue of Jesus with outstretched hands and a tea set from Japan with a nice lady at the bottom of every single cup. On the wall hung a landscape picture, a cuckoo clock and a picture of King Olav. At the time, he was the king of Norway. Under the picture of King Olav stood a large camphor coffin. It had great carving all the way round, and I thought it was fun to follow them with my fingers. When the lid was opened, the delicious camphor scent could be smelled throughout the living room.

I wasn't equally fond of all the things. Dad had bought two large ebony statues when he was in Africa. Ebony is a tree species that is almost entirely black, and the statues represented two strict men. They each had a pointy beard, and each leaned on a rifle. On their backs they each had a hanging animal, so they were probably hunters on their way home from a successful hunt. They each had an arm raised, tucked behind their head. The arm firmly gripped the dead animal's legs. The statues were so scary that I hardly dared look at them. What if they suddenly burst to life?

"Come and touch them, they're not dangerous," Amanda said.

But I shook my head.

"Come on!" Amanda said again. "They're only from trees."