Grandpa Thore

I want to share a story via this blog about my paternal grandfather and "the cradle".  (You will see how it relates to my starting a family at the end.)

My paternal grandparents (Thore & Thea) had 6 kids.  They had 3 girls and 3 boys.  The 3 girls were the oldest, and the 3 boys were the youngest.  It went:  Carol, Jordyce, Joan, Don (my dad), Ron, and Bob. 

Carol had 4 children (3 boys and a girl), Jordyce had 3 boys, and Joan had a girl and a boy.  (All of these grandkids were older than any of my brothers and sisters except for Joan's boy).  The one thing my grandfather wanted was a grandson to carry on the Rosenvold name.  Of course his daughters had kids, but none of them had the last name of Rosenvold, of course. 

My mom had 2 daughters (who of course wouldn't carry the last name either).  Then they had me.  I happened to be the 1st grandson with the Rosenvold name.  My grand father was thrilled.  Here's a picture of him when he ran for sheriff. 

At this time in his life, he was very sick as (as my dad put it) he was "full of cancer".  When he found out that I was a boy, he hand made a baby cradle for me.  I believe he saw me one time when I was just a couple months old.  He died a few months later. 

When my grandmother died in the early 80's, my Aunt Carol saw the cradle and saved it for me for over 30 years.  A couple of years ago, I got the cradle into my possession.  I wasn't sure what to do with it.  It has a lot of sentimental value for me, but I wasn't sure if it was exactly the piece that you would actually have a baby sleep in or not. 

I decided that I would have the cradle rosemaled.  Rosemaling is a Norwegian word that means "decorative painting".  There are different types of rosemaling that are attributed to different areas of Norway.  I think having the cradle rosemaled will be a great way to commemorate my grandfather's (and my) heritage.  There is a type of rosemaling that comes from the area where he is from.  I think I am going to go with that type.  It's called Vest-Agder.  Here is a small sample of what this style looks like:

I found a lady in Wisconsin who has won several awards in this type of painting.  After hearing my story and seeing pictures of the cradle, she agreed that she wanted to paint it for me.  It is very time consuming and she is in high demand.  It's been about a year since we've been in contact with this lady, and just today I heard from her that she is just about ready to start the cradle. 

Here is a picture of the cradle as it is right now.  I will post pictures of the end result as well. 

My hope is that this is something that will become a family heirloom passed down in my family for generations to come.