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Scott Lax Blog

We are all Norwegians

I'm half Norwegian. Our son Finn is partially named for the cousin of his great-grandfather Knute Stai (from Stai, Norway, near Koppang), Finn Stai. After finishing college in England, I went to Norway to visit my mother’s ancestral village. I hitchhiked through the mountains during the depth of winter darkness. A gentle family literally took me in from the cold of a mountain road, where I was lost and exhausted from walking through snow. When I was heading home, a kind couple fed me meal when I ran out of money in Bergen. During my brief time there, the Norwegians and I shared stories, laughed together, played music together. The Norwegian people never failed in their kindness, good humor and generosity.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Norway and her people in this time of great sorrow and loss. Here in America, we understand the pain of senseless hatred and the evil of the slaughter of innocents. I hold my Norwegian ancestry dear every day. And today, and in the time to come, we are all Norwegians.  Read More