I have a confession to make. I am a descendant of the Dukes of Saxony in Germany. Why must I make this confession besides no longer...

Being the oldest son of a father and mother who were the youngest in the family and who married late in life meant that nearly all my...

My maternal grandmother, Synneva Eide Haakinson, was born on the island of Halsnøy near the mouth of the Hardanger Fjord. The fjord is...

So someone says that you are a first cousin twice removed. I do not want you to feel rejected by that cousin. They still love you, and...

In America, Mother's Day is always the second Sunday in May, and I thought it would be only fitting to talk about my mother, who would...

Recently my cousin, Jakob Thormodsater, surprised me by sending a picture of my Grandfather Abel Haakinson's house where he grew up on...

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” or so the saying goes. However, with all the beauty in Norway, there must be those who have...

In an earlier article, I indicated that there were as many Norwegian in America as Norwegians. This was because of the massive...

Growing up, we had an old trunk stuck in one corner of our garage. I do not know where it came from and never thought to ask. My dad used...

We just returned from a cruise to Alaska and had an enjoyable time. In this age of jet travel, we can complain about 3-6 hour flights...

This month my Aunt Agnes would have been 102 years old, and soon she will have been gone from us for nearly twenty years. Yet her impact...

With fear and trepidation, I venture into talking about Deoxyribonucleic Acid or simply DNA. Just the word sends shivers down my back, as...

My wife loves quilts! We have several! So when my mom brought out a double wedding ring quilt made by Grandma Emma (Nelson) Huseby for my...

No matter what an American’s political affiliation might be, I am sure that all will agree that we are relieved there are no major...

Road trips were once a way of life in America. The automobile created independence, and road trips retained our connections with family....

The lore of the Old West creates visions of cowboys and Indians, gunfights, and mining camps with fortunes won and lost at gambling...

When I talked with my mother about her Lutheran church heritage, it was much different from mine and what I found in Norway. Her changed...

Have you ever wondered how we got our last names? In America, families had a fixed last name (surname) from the beginning of our country....

Abel Haakinson (Thormodsæter) was born on October 1, 1874, on Bømlo Island, near the town of Finnas, Norway. He was the third child of...