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Through Time and Space

Summertime view from Kaivopuisto

Another twin-inspired conversation…

We had a couple of sunny days here (with winter temperatures) and so hubby and I took the twins for a stroll in the Kaivopuisto park. There were lots of people there walking, jogging, enjoying the cold sunshine. Most people who walked by smiled animatedly at the twins, hidden behind their slightly too large baby sunglasses, and fast asleep.

An elderly woman was climbing up a quite steep hill, on an off-road path. We happened to be pausing at the top of the hill right where the little dirt track joined the pavement. When she reached us, she smiled at the twins and then us.

“How old are they?”
“9 and a half months”

She told us a tiny, tiny bit of her story in just a few sentences. Her identical twins were now 65 and she was 90. When she spoke, I could see her eyes drifting off to a faraway place, mistily. There was joy in her face and I could see the memories jolt back.

There was a small breeze and I could feel something special in the air. I felt like I could imagine her in that very same spot, some 65 years ago. Maybe she had been there with her babies when they were 9 1/2 months old.

Same place, different time…

She stopped at the highest point of the hill and gently adjusted the babies’ blankets. Looking out, the Baltic sea was sparkling at her in the spring sunlight. She smiled to herself, happy, and took a deep breath of salty air. “What will my babies be like when they grow up?” she thought. It felt like an eternity to their adulthood.

Summertime view from Kaivopuisto

35 replies on “Through Time and Space”

And I hope you squeezed those babies tighter knowing how fast they will grow up! I feel like I was pushing the stroller in a park just yesterday …
(Now I have a dog stroller – it looks ridiculous, but it gets the immobile dog out into the fresh air!)

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This is beautiful! The words, the thoughts, the connection between you and the old lady. Love the way the event is written, and the monologue-like narration. The picture, as your pictures normally do, gives a nostalgic sense. Lovely!

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I am also one of those people who are so fascinated by twins as I’ve never known any twins personally..No wonder your twins have been the reasons for so many random conversations with strangers lately! 🙂 I also wonder what was Helsinki like that back then.. I never learned enough Finnish to ask elder Finns how it was like back then, but I do that here sometimes and it’s so interesting. Love your writing as usual! Enjoy the spring ❤

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I’ve known many twins along the years, at school and a different jobs. There are even twin babies as our neighbors 😊 But most people seem fascinated, like you said! I’d love to hear more about life a couple of generations ago, too, and whenever I see old pictures of Helsinki or anywhere else, I could stare at them for ages! 😊 Do you speak Polish well? I guess you hear many war stories?

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I speak pretty fluently, although I can’t follow each word especially if it’s about a difficult topic e.g politics, taxes etc. But on a daily basis, yes. 🙂 A lot of stories I hear from as recently as 25-30 years ago are about how communism had absolutely destroyed the country. I’m told that there were no choices in the market for daily supplies and they had to go to East Germany, Hungary etc to buy supplies. It’s apparently astounding how rapidly the country has changed over mere three decades. Then there are stories about war. Poland does have a very painful history..

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Thank you for your lovely comment and the link to your beautiful poem! Being a twin must be special and I’m thrilled to have the chance to watch by, as my boys grow and bond. They are already interacting and seeing them hold hands (unprompted!) is the cutest thing! I wonder if they’ll always be getting attention… well, your poem answers the question! 🙂

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