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Since Neset is my name and since I grew up on the Minnesota land homesteaded by Grandpa Torgus Neset, it was probably inevitable that Neset family history is where my ancestral search would first lead me. Here’s a true story about reaching a first branch of the family tree. The first DNA-focused post shared what few facts I have about Grandma Asborg Eilifsdotter Neset—followed by three short stories about her journey to… Read More
“THE HELLIG OLAV IS APPROACHING NEW YORK CITY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WE WILL BE AT THE DOCKS IN THREE HOURS. PREPARE TO DISEMBARK UPON ARRIVAL.” It has been eleven long days since May 7th when the Hellig Olav pulled away from the docks in Kristiansand and Asborg’s life was split in two as though by the sharpest of blades. Before and After. Old Country and New Country. It is… Read More
The focus moves to 7-year-old Svein in the second section of my story about Grandma. Asborg’s mother hired a photographer to take the picture that would be all she would ever see of her daughter and grandchildren again. It would also be our only glimpse of the Nesets in Norway. There’s my dad standing in back, his head tilted wistfully as he squints into the sun. His twin sister Ellen leans against… Read More
This is the first section of a story I wrote awhile ago about Grandma Asborg Neset. When I knew Grandma Neset she was old and stooped with a deeply wrinkled face. She did not like children and usually referred to me as dårlig jente (bad girl) although I was the person she asked to read the funny papers to her on Sundays; Dick Tracy was her favorite. Her house always… Read More