2017 - November 21 - Castle On The Hill (1917 Edition)

One hundred years. That’s how long it is since the world met a fantastic woman: Eldbjørg Gabrielsdatter Sletvold. She met and married the love of her life, and they had six children - the second youngest turned out to be my mother (five girls and one boy in the span of 9 years). I was not fortunate enough to spend much time with my grandfather, but his spirit lived on through bestemor.  And today she would have turned 100. I learned a lot from her, but it was never taught, it was simply lived. And I miss her. I miss her a lot.

Most of my memories from childhood and well into my teenage years revolve around family, so a song about those kinds of memories suits today well. Bestemor’s house was indeed a castle on the hill. It might not have looked like a castle, but it was to me - and I know it was to her. She once won a vacation for refusing to sell the house for far more than it was worth. It turned out the world calling her were doing a radio show or something like that - my memory is a little shaky - but the bottom line was that she really didn’t want to move. It was her home through good times and bad, and the memories contained between those four walls were worth more than any amount of money.

So I’ll let Ed Sheehan sing about the country lanes winding by and all those great memories of growing up. His memories are different than mine, but we have a Castle On The Hill in common.