Bessa's Story

Home
Bessa's Story

Bessa's Story is a podcast sharing the incredible story of my grandmother's life.

18/05/2023

Gratulerer med dagen! 🇳🇴
Today is Syttende Mai, Independence Day for Norway. I have wonderful memories of marching in the parade in Brooklyn with my grandmother. Picture from 1992.
🇳🇴

03/05/2023

I’m really happy that Bessa’s Story is now out to the world, complete. I am grateful to Kalyn, my firstborn, for being with me through it. We recently had a conversation about the podcast, and we get into a lot of fun topics. Here’s what we discuss:

Why Bessa’s Story was created (1 min-2:27)
Editing challenges & sharing personal details (2:28-8:51)
Working with less-than-perfect audio (8:52-12:39)
Podcasting skills & how transcripts can help (12:40-15:31)
Efficiency & time management (15:32-23:53
Lessons from Bessa’s life (23:53-31:27)
Hearing Bessa’s voice again 31:27-33:37
Favorite episodes (33:37-36:51)
Collaborating (36:52-41:28)
Staying motivated to complete a project (41:28-45:16)

I really liked how Kalyn shared openly about lessons learned from Bessa’s life.

Hope you will enjoy this episode, and thanks so much for listening.

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bessas-story-behind-the-scenes/id1651743075?i=1000610956188

Google Podcasts:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQ0NTUzNi9yc3M/episode/Y2YwNTQwNDQtYjk0ZC00YzdiLWI4MGMtMmRhMDY0OTcxMjFj?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjo3NS5-9j-AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg

Visit https://bessastory.com to read the transcript!

01/04/2023

𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟐𝟑: 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞 - 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝟖𝟎

In the very last recording that we did, I wanted to capture what my grandma’s life was like on an ordinary day. I asked my grandma about some of her routines. She was 80 years old at the time.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: I wanted to ask you about your routine and your day. So, start with when you’re in bed and you wake up.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Jump out of bed, and I go downstairs.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: What do you mean you jump out of bed?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: I do. I have to go like that. It’s just a habit.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Why?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: I don’t know. I never crawl out of bed. I jump out of bed.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: When you wake up, do you lay there for a few minutes?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: No. When I wake up, I open my eyes and I go. I’m not one to lay in bed.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Why do you think you do that?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: I don’t know. Old habits. Don’t waste time. I go downstairs and I put the coffee on and I go outside and feed the birds...

*

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read the transcript:
https://bessastory.com/episode-23-finale-life-at-80/

*

Thank you for following and listening to Bessa's Story!

A couple of notes:

I missed sharing last week's episode here, "Episode 22: Goodbye Joe." Please check it out if you haven't already!

I plan to share a "Making of Bessa's Story" episode coming up soon. Please stay tuned.

19/03/2023

From Episode 21 - A Big Move
8 minutes

In this week’s episode, Irene and Joe decide to move from New York to North Carolina...

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Two nights before we drove out of NY, Reidun had a party for us in the Danish Club. They brought out a cake and the band played, 𝑶𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.

You know that song?(sings)

She came out with a cake with a moving truck on it. I cried. That was sad.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Who was there?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Everybody. The club was packed. It was so sad.

And the next morning – I said to Joe when we were in the car, 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰. 𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Irene and Joe drove to North Carolina, leaving behind their friends and their life in New York...

*

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read the transcript:
https://bessastory.com/episode-21-a-big-move/

11/03/2023

This week's episode, "Grieving," was a really hard one, as my grandmother grieved the loss of her daughter Inger.

*

I asked my mom if she would share some thoughts about her sister. What should our listeners know about Inger?
This is from my mom, Carol.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 23 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴.

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦 4 𝘰𝘳 5, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘵, 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.

𝘐𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘱. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧.

𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘒𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴.

𝘐𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯. 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

*

03/03/2023

The story of when Irene and Joe bought Magnotti's restaurant on Staten Island and turned it into a thriving business.

*

Irene and Joe had learned that an Italian restaurant called Magnotti’s was up for sale. It was on Staten Island not far from where they lived.

They went one night to go check out Magnotti’s to see if they were interested.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: It’s run down. The business is not there. It’s not clean, but the location is perfect. They have a parking lot. I said, 𝘑𝘰𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳. Next day, he called the owner and he told us to come down to see him.

Frank, when he interviewed us, he said to Joe, 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.

So Joe said to him, 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, and Frank just smiled. He was so happy because it had been – he had been there for 30 years.

So Joe said, 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦? I said, 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱. Closed for a whole week. And we put a sign – “Closed for a week.” And we tore that place apart...

*
From Episode 19: Magnotti's
Length: 13 minutes

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read the transcript:
https://bessastory.com/episode-19-magnottis/

*
PS - Are you from Staten Island or NY? I would love to find a menu from Magnotti's if it exists somewhere. Our family doesn't even have one.

24/02/2023

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟏𝟖: 𝐀 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐨

Irene and Joe were invited to a party by their friend Harold.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: He said to me, 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. So I mentioned it to Joe, and Joe says, 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰.

Waldorf Astoria. The fanciest place in Manhattan. So we went, with Harold and his wife Rose. It was a wonderful party.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: And the Queen of Denmark was there? What was her name?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: I don’t remember. There’s a picture of her in the club. But she just kept following me around all night long. And staring at me. I said, 𝘑𝘰𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳?

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Did you meet her?
𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Not formally.
𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Did she wear a crown?
𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: No. She was dressed beautiful. I had a gown. I had a very pretty gown. It was beige… and I had very fancy hair. You know how we did our hair in those days. Very special. But she just kept following me. I said, 𝘑𝘰𝘦, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.

No matter where I was, she was right there.

Well a month later, I came into the club (Danish Club), and they had gotten a picture of her from Denmark. A big one. It’s still hanging there.

I said, 𝘑𝘰𝘦, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘔𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘰.

She followed me that night to study my hairdo. That’s why she kept looking at me – she wanted to know exactly how my hair was done. It was funny.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: What was special about your hair?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Well, I had a heck of a lot of hair then. They teased it up fancy, you know. I could hardly get into the car it was so high!

Episode 18: A Special Hairdo
Length: 7 minutes

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read the transcript - https://bessastory.com/episode-18-a-special-hairdo/

17/02/2023

𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 17: 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: He was the head waiter on the day shift. And I was hired on the night shift. He asked me to go out.

He asked me to meet him in a bar across the street from where he worked and I worked.

But anyway, I had the picture with me. Of the three kids. My kids. And he told me he liked me. And he would like to see me.

He said, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

So I took out the picture, laid it on the table, and I said, 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. He said, 𝘕𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

*

Episode 17: Partners
Length: 8 minutes

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read the transcript - https://bessastory.com/episode-17-partners/

09/02/2023

This week's episode, "Tough Times," was a hard one for me to put together, and it was hard to think about my grandmother going through this period of time in her life. If you've ever been through a divorce, or heartache, you'll relate to this one.

Episode 16: Tough Times
Length: 6 minutes

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read transcript on https://bessastory.com/

03/02/2023

𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟏𝟓: 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬

My grandma told me about when she sold Stanley Home Products, which involved hosting parties and selling the products to the guests. Here's what happened from one of those parties...

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: There was one girl, her name was Laila. She had a party. We’re still friends. She lives in Norway. She said,
𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

I said, 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦. She said, 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺.

We sold shaving cream and we sold men’s combs, different things for them. Well, the guys came, I had a really good party.

So now we have to deliver to the ship.

So me and Laila packed everything in the car, drove down to the dock and the ship is laying there. And as we parked, the ship is starting to leave. I said, 𝘓𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢, 𝘮𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. Well, we jumped out, got the boxes and we’re throwing it. And the guys are standing on the ship.

They got it. They got everything!

𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵! And they got it all. And then we just stood there and waved. I’ll never forget it to this day.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: That’s good customer service.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Too good. You wouldn’t find that today!

Length: 11 minutes

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read transcript on https://bessastory.com/

27/01/2023

My grandma holds her baby daughter, Carol (my mom).
*
Episode 14: Childbirth in the 1950's

My grandma shares her experience with giving birth in this week's episode. This took place in the 1950’s – and, as you will find out, giving birth back then was not the same as it is today.

What did you think of this episode? Were you surprised to hear about some of Irene's experiences in the hospital?

Length: 10 minutes

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read transcript on https://bessastory.com/

21/01/2023

𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 13: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒃 𝑬𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆

𝘐𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴…𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.

𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗻𝘆: We decided we were going to have a party.

In Norway, they have a lot of parties with those big crabs. They are not little, they are big. When you cook them, they become red. They are like brownish-gray when they are live, and as soon as you put them in boiling water, they get red.

So we were going to have a party. We were maybe 3-4 couples.
Out at Sheepshead Bay – It’s almost out to Coney Island – there are all those fishing boats and crab boats, and all that came in. There we could buy them live.

 But we didn’t think – stupid us – we didn’t think to take anything with us to have it in. We thought they would have something for us to put them in.

 You know what they gave us? These big paper bags. So by the time we got to the subway, the crabs were wet and the paper bag broke. And the crabs are crawling all over the subway.

 People are screaming. They were still alive, and crawling. They weren’t crawling 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 fast, but they were crawling.

 My God, they are not attacking people, they are just crawling to hide, run away. They don’t know what the heck is going on!

 Finally, one girl came with a big bag, and we got them from under the seats, all over. When you take them, you have to take them from the back, behind the big claws. Otherwise they’ll bite you and they can bite hard. They don’t want to let go. If they bite you, they don’t want to let go.

 We got them in, and we took them home and we washed them, because they had been on the subway floor. So then we washed them and put them in boiling water.

 We had a party…with crabs that had been crawling on the floor in the subway!

 But they were good. (laughed)

 Oh, we had so many stories. We could go back and say, 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? And we did a lot of crazy stuff too. I don’t know. We had a good time. We were the best of friends.

𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 - https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts
𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 - https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

14/01/2023

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 12 - 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔

Torfinn planned to move in with Irene. And her roommates would move out.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: And I told the landlady that I was getting married. So my wedding day came.

The landlady says to me, 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩? I said, 46𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘖𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, she said.

Well, do you know? She came to the church. She wanted to make sure that I didn’t just move in with a guy in her apartment.

Yeah, she told me. Because she was very strict. She didn’t want any of that kind of stuff. Of course, a lot of couples in those days, they started to move in together. But she saw that I got married.

~~~
PS - Can anyone please tell me what her caption says on the photo?
~~~

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 - https://bessastory.com/episode-12-wedding-bells/
𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 - https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts
𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 - https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

05/01/2023

Pictured here: Irene (on the right) and Borgny (on the left) at Irene's sister Henny's wedding. Their dresses were identical, except Irene's dress was pink, and Borgny's was green.

𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 11: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙪𝙢 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Can you imagine this? She happened to be on a machine next to me one day - Borgny to my right, Shirley, my girlfriend, to the left, and we're packing gum.

It has to go in a certain way. And if you make a mistake, you've got to stop the machine and the floor lady comes over and - it's not trouble, but you shouldn't make a mistake.

But one day Borgny says to me, 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘮 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. So we're chewing away...and here comes the floor lady...

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read transcript on https://bessastory.com/episode-11-the-chewing-gum-factory/

31/12/2022

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗻: On the Ship to America

Bjorg turned 18 on the ship. When she was young, she said they didn’t make a fuss about birthdays. So she received a big surprise on the night of her birthday, when they went to dinner.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: So now I had been sick, and I’m getting well again. And my birthday came, and we were going to go in for dinner. And I had the same table with Anna and Gerd. And there was some guys at the table. Everybody had their table for the whole trip.

So all of a sudden, the band is standing next to our table, and they’re playing Happy Birthday. And I had never heard the Happy Birthday song in my life, never heard it.

So I’m sitting there like a dummy and I get a kick from Anna. She says, Stand up. They’re playing for you. She said in Norwegian. So I stood up and I’m in shock. They were playing and saying, singing Happy Birthday to me. That was the first time in my life.

And when they were finished playing, the waiter put a big, beautiful birthday cake in front of me with my name on it.

That was my first birthday cake. And my first birthday party. And my first happy birthday to you. So you see, I was not spoiled when I came to this country.

Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryGooglePodcasts

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
https://bit.ly/BessasStoryApplePodcasts

Read transcript on https://bessastory.com

23/12/2022

God jul! (Merry Christmas!) ✨

On Christmas Eve, Bjorg and her family would go over to their Bestemor and Bestefar’s house – her grandmother and grandfather.

Bessa: I remember Mama saying, Okay, it’s time to go over now.

And we would walk over the bridge over to Bestemor and Bestefar and have dinner there. And he would read the Christmas – from the Bible, you know. He always did that before we ate and we had lutefisk and potatoes and carrots with melted butter. It’s delicious. And rice grod after. And they had a Christmas tree and we got no gifts – one orange – that was steady every Christmas.

And it was always nice and cozy with Bestemor and Bestefar. I do remember the Christmas tree. Standing right in that corner and Mama had real candles on it that you had to use a match to light them. It was so nice.
🎄

17/12/2022

Here's Bjorg riding with the goats and the sheep through the mountains!

An excerpt from this week's episode, "Not the Stork."

As my grandmother will explain, these topics were not discussed at home. Kids were told a made-up story about how babies came into the world.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: The midwife had this black bag. And we were told that that black bag held the baby. She’s coming with the baby. For years, to the day I went on a boat to come to this country, I thought the baby came in that black bag.

And Gerd, she thought the same thing. She was told that – who was it that was going to have twins? Oh, Tia and Tonnes. They were twins. And when the midwife came – that’s our neighbors. When the midwife came to that house and got my sister, older sister: How can there be two babies in that bag?

So everybody believed in the black bag, not the stork. We had the black that came with the babies.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: But didn’t you see animals being born?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: I never, ever. They kept us from that...(continued)

Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../bessas-story/id1651743075
Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/search/bessa's%20story
Read: https://bessastory.com

08/12/2022

"𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗴" - 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟳
Bjorg shares about her first kiss. She finishes cooking school, and is hired to cook and clean for a man and his mother, who live in another town.

Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../bessas-story/id1651743075
Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/search/bessa's%20story

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: After a couple of days it was my job to fix him his lunch and he wanted hot lunch so I decided to make him Fiskegrateng because I had just learned that in cooking school. Like an au gratin dish.

And I put that in front of him and went back to the kitchen. Of course, he was a big shot. He ate in the dining room at the dining room table. So I put it down and I have to serve from the right, and go back in the kitchen. And no sooner when I got back in the kitchen, he banged his spoon on his cup. That means I have to go back in.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: He didn’t call for you?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: No. Only ding, ding, ding. Instead of a bell, he would take a spoon, a silver spoon and clink his coffee cup. That is a sign he wants me in there. Okay. I said, 𝐽𝑎. In other words, Yes, sir.

So he said, 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑢 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝐼 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?!
.. read the whole transcript on https://bessastory.com/
or listen on iTunes or Google Podcasts.

07/12/2022

"Bjorg's First Dance"- (Bonus story)
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: My friends used to go to dances in Lyngdal and the bus would come in and take them. I said to Mama, 𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. Mama said, 𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘯𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.

So Mama went over to Tonnes’s mother’s house and said, 𝘉𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘛𝘪𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰. Yeah, they would do that. So she came back and said I could go.

Boy was I happy. Got dressed and onto the bus to Lyngdal to the dance. I remember going in, I was so nervous going into that dance hall, Kristen.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: By yourself?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: No, I was with my friends, but I had never been to a dance before. The way it was, there was one man playing the accordion – he was sitting up on the stage, whatever stage there was, you know?

All the girls had to go on the left and sit against the wall. All the boys had to sit on the right-hand side. When the accordion started to play, I will never forget it. It was a waltz. I’m looking and see this – I knew who he was – this guy come walking right across towards me!

And – (in Norwegian – 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦?)
I almost died but I got up. To this day, we are best friends. I had my first dance with Jon. His name was Jon.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: So at your very first dance, you got asked, on the first song?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Mm-hmm. A lot of them were wallflowers and never got off the seat – I was never a wallflower. I can say that.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Did the girls ever say no?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: No, they were dying to dance, but somehow the boys knew which girls could dance.

Because we danced at home – Mama would show me steps and we would dance in the hallway in Drange. Mama would wind up the phonograph and we would dance.

But I’ll never forget that. What a good feeling.

𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘣 𝘖𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩

03/12/2022

"𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹"- (Bonus story)

𝘉𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘨’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 14, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘬.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮:I started right after breakfast, cleaned up the breakfast dishes, cleaned the house, dusted and washed the floors.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: How did you know what to do?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Because I had done it at home for Mama, with chores. Helping in the barn, whatever had to be done…I always had to make his meals. His lunch, his midday meal, that was dinner. I had to cook potatoes and fry him something, either a piece of meat or fish.

He had the public phone in his house, so anyone who had to make a call went to him. But he also had the mail. He was responsible for a family that lived way up in the mountain. He was responsible one day a week to deliver the mail to that family. There was a mama and a papa and a boy and a girl. They lived way out.

Now it became my job. Sometimes the bus would stop and say, Come on, I’ll take you to the top. Then I would have to go across the mountain and go way out with the mail. But if the bus didn’t stop, then I had to walk all the way up the mountain and across. It took me a whole day back and forth.

When I got there in the morning – they were so nice. Normally it was a newspaper, maybe a bill or some kind of stuff. But they looked forward to that. She would have a piece of bread with butter and sugar on and a cup of coffee for me. Come and sit down. And I talked to the kids and then I walked back home.

One time when I walked back home – this was in the summertime – it was so beautiful and I looked and I saw snow way in the distance. The snow would be so deep up there that it never melted.

Then I heard a noise behind me. I looked and here came all the bulls. One of them was charging after me. The farmers down in Drange would let the bulls – they would be grazing up there all summer.

I ran so. I could taste the blood in my mouth. I made it to the other side before he got me.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Did they chase you all the way to the fence?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Just that one. The others, they were lazy. When I told Frederik when he I came home, he said, 𝘖𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴. But I was scared.

𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻: Was he close?

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮: Yeah. I could hear him breathing.

𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑦 𝑌𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝐺𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑜𝑛 𝑈𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ

01/12/2022

Cooking school in Norway, circa ~ 1951. My grandma is 16 here, sitting in the front row, second from right, looking so happy and proud. Her sister Henny is in the back row, third from left!

This week’s episode gets into what life was like after the war.
Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bessas-story/id1651743075
Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/search/bessa's%20story
Read on Bessastory.com: https://bessastory.com
*

25/11/2022

My grandma knew how to find fun wherever she went. This is a good lesson for anyone - have a little fun!
She and her friend Borgny made candy together when they were young. Hear about it in this week’s episode, “Sweet.”
Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../bessas-story/id1651743075
Listen on Google Podcasts:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQ0NTUzNi9yc3M?sa=X&ved=0CA0QrrcFahcKEwj487fRt8r7AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ
* PS - this is my grandma with a goat that she must have made friends with one day in Norway. I don’t know how old she was here. *

18/11/2022

When my grandma Bjorg was a little girl, she had many adventures outdoors with her friends in Norway. Even during the war. One day, Bjorg and her friends were hanging out on a rock together up on the mountain, when a torpedo came into the fjord in Drange.

Hear about their adventure in this week’s episode, “The British Torpedo.”
Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bessas-story/id1651743075
Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQ0NTUzNi9yc3M
PS - this is a photo of my grandmother as an adult looking down into the fjord. You can see Drange behind her to the right.
*

10/11/2022

Episode 3: The Turnip
*
Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bessas-story/id1651743075
Read transcript: https://bessastory.com/
A prison camp is built in Bjorg’s yard, and Bjorg gets into trouble over a turnip.
*
This episode is sad, but I think it’s hopeful too. Hear about Bjorg’s compassion for others, even while she was living a difficult life herself.
*

03/11/2022

Episode Two - Co-existence
Hear what life was like for Bjorg with the N***s in her home and village, and the difficulties of war.

Subscribe and listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bessas-story/id1651743075

Read transcripts on bessastory.com.

27/10/2022

Bessa’s Story is here! 😁
Today you can find the Introduction episode, as well as Episode One - Invasion. Please check it out! You can listen and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bessas-story/id1651743075 You can also read the transcripts on bessastory.com. Thank you!

*PS - pictured from left: Bjorg, Henny, and Tor
❤️

03/07/2022

Hello! Bessa's Story is a podcast that will share the incredible story of my grandmother's life. Irene was known to me - and many others - as Bessa. Before she passed, Bessa and I sat down for many audio recordings together, where I had the chance to ask her about her life.

I'm excited to finally share her story with you. It is still taking shape, but I plan to start releasing episodes this fall.

More details to come in a few weeks. In the meantime, please follow and share. Thank you!

Address

Website

http://bessastory.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bessa's Story posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Address
Alerts
Claim ownership or report listing
Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Country:

City: