Today has been Memorial Day here in US. It is a day to honor those that died while serving the US Armed Forces. Being an immigrant in US I do not have any family members that served or died in a US war. However I have three grandparents that served for Norway during World War II (WWII). None of them died during the war, but they all served an important purpose. All three of them also had cancer. Both my grandfathers died from their cancers, while my grandmother was a cancer survivor. This weekend memories of all three of them have entered my mind quite often so I wanted to share this with you to honor them. Both my grandfathers had abdominal cancers like me, so I guess that is why memories of them have popped in a lot this weekend.

My paternal grandfather was trained as a sailor and traveled the world on large ships for several years. He served in the navy during WWII. In his sixties he got pancreatic cancer and had multiple surgeries. He passed away when I was twelve years old and I believe he was in his early seventies when he died. I do not have many memories of him since he was very sick for many years and spent a lot of time hospitalized, or in front of the tv at home when I visited them. I do not think any chemotherapy was available back then, in the late seventies and early eighties. I recall that it was said that he survived for a remarkably long time despite of the severity of his cancer. I remember my grandmother drew a sketch of stomach organs on a small note and explained to me which of his organs that had been removed or partly removed. It made quite an impression on a young girls mind.

My maternal grandfather (on the picture above) was an officer during WWII and built up an intelligence organization called XU. He was stationed on the west coast in Norway and later in Sweden. He was diagnosed with colon cancer when he was in his early eighties. Also for him there were no available chemotherapies at the time. This was in the mid nineties. He had surgery to remove the primary tumor, but it had metastasized to his lungs and liver and he survived only about a year before he passed away a few days after his 83rd birthday.

My maternal grandmother (on the picture above) served in the same intelligence organization as my grandfather during WWII. That is how they met. She was a courier transporting papers across the border between Norway and Sweden and helped Norwegians escape from Norway to Sweden. She was not much older than Benjamin when she did this, only in her early twenties. A brave young girl. When she was in her early sixties she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and survived her cancer and did not pass away before she was 93.

I am lucky to have been able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents. I have many fond memories and have enjoyed immensely hearing them tell stories about the good old days. My paternal grandmother is now 100 years old and has unfortunately started to wither. That is not unexpected at her age. She is now courageously fighting a pneumonia. I wish I could be with her and hold her hand – and hear her tell more stories. I hope that my body is as strong as my grandparents bodies have been and that I can retell some of their stories so their memories can live on for many years to come.