Lineage

Sisu 

Finnish word generally meaning stoic determination, 

bravery, resilience, perseverance and hardiness.  

This is my Grandma Carol... my mom's mom.  Pic is from a month ago now (lands where's the time going!) - when I took her to see her then 3 wk old 24th great grand child!  24th great!    That's what happens when you're a woman who has 6 children of her own.  6 of her own in 7.5 years... my mom is her 3rd and she is just 10 months younger than her sister!  And then the last 2 of the 6 were born in the same year!   That kind of fertility amazes me and now as a new mom - that kind of mothering blows the top off my mind. 

Just got off the phone with her actually.  My grandma is Finnish and is currently reading a book I sent her. While reading it, she was reminded of this finnish word sisu so called to tell me about it!  

It's the perfect word for the matriarch of my family.  She is beautifully all those things - even if she doesn't always see it or believe it.   Her life has many markers of sheer womanhood chalked full in my memories of stoic bravery, raw resilience, quiet perseverance and hardiness.

I love this angle of the other pic I took during that visit...

her with her youngest great-grandaughter and the wall behind her 

of her life-long love, her 6 children, and her grandchildren.  

As I embrace life as a new mom, I'm grateful to have women in my lineage who have tons of SISU that shine as examples for me and in silently strong ways, help encourage me to be a woman of SISU myself.