One of the things that I
remember about my father is his lack of patience with lineups. When he was little he actually fainted once
when he was in a line-up at a movie theatre!
My father was one of those
persistent people who could nag his parents unbelievably until he hoped to get
what he wanted. They, however, did not
give in. It must have been a terrible
trial for his parents to listen to him because he wouldn’t give up and they
wouldn’t give in. When he was about
seven years old he got it into his head that he wanted a boat. His father was a sailor and they often went
down to the harbour to look at the ships and boats. My father had heard about a boat which he
could get for “cheap” (it was just a little row boat) and he had saved up money
from his errand boy job so he had enough money.
“Far, I want a boat.” He
said for the umpteenth time.
His father looked down at
him, looked out at the Limfjord (this is the sound that splits Denmark in 2)
and then said “You can have a boat when you learn to swim.”
My father took one look at
his father, one look at the Limfjord and jumped in then and there! I don’t know who was more astonished of the
two as Dad floundered about in the water or as his father looked on in
amazement as he tried to swim.
He got his boat.
My father started his
earning “career” when he was 7. He was
an errand boy for a grocer and he would ride one of those large bicycles with
the delivery carriage on the back of it.
He rode it all over the town and between that and the fact that he
talked to everyone he soon knew everyone in the town. Years later when his sister was visiting us
from Denmark they sat up long into the night catching up on this person and
that person and finally my mother asked “did you know everyone in Norresundby”
and both of them turned to her, smiled and said “yes”!
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