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| Great Aunt Magda Sevaldsen |
Anna Magda Sevaldsen was my grandfather Paul's younger sister. Born 1906 in Hadsel, Norway her birth wasn't recorded until 1909 in the "dissenters" portion of the birth register. Even though she spent quite a few years living in the US, I never met the woman but I got a distinct impression that my grandmother Dagmar did not like her. She made a few vague negative comments about her that ended with her sucking in her breath and shaking her head. Sisters in law often are just basically good folks that have nothing in common with each other but family ties throw them together in a way that irritates them both. Now, I do wish that I had known her.
Two cousins of mine in Norway, whose judgment I would trust, thought very highly of her. I have recently met through Facebook another remote cousin whose sister was a friend of hers and she told me that Magda was quite an intelligent lady and a poet. Another cousin by chance met Magda's daughter in, of all places, Hawaii. That daughter gave him four books of poetry written by Magda which he generously passed on to me. I am now in the process of translating them with the help of my old friend Google. Meanwhile, I googled Magda herself and find she was fairly well known in her area of Norway. Works she had written were included in the yearly Verdal books. Upon her death, she was eulogized quite kindly in the 1999 Verdal yearbook.
Even those you love, admire, and trust dearly can be wrong sometimes. Magda seems like she was a free thinker, an artistic, imaginative woman with a very forward thinking, romantic view of the world. Conversely, grandmother was a solid, "let's make a plan and get down to business" kind of a person. She had strong opinions about most everything. Dependable and constant. I loved that about her. Magda and my grandmother were probably polar opposites. It is no wonder they weren't close. I loved Grandma but I wish I had known Magda also. Maybe for very very different reasons I would have loved her too.
My Great Aunt
Anna Magda Sevaldsen
b. 2 Nov 1906 Hadsel, Nordland, Norway
d. 22 Jan 1999 Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
