I grew up with my Dad reading me the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” in Finnish (my parents come from Finland). Translated to Finnish it’s called, “Pieni Punahilkka.” The difference between the English and Finnish renderings of the story is the wolf. In the Finnish story, the wolf is, to a six-year-old, much scarier. Maybe I felt that way because of Dad’s take on the story, he made sure that the wolf was uber scary. He would stand up and make horrible wolf sounds and said that the wolf was never far from little children that weren’t listening to their parents. Sometimes, likely when I was misbehaving, he would blurt, “Siellä on susi!” Meaning, “There’s a wolf!” I’d jump, and he would say, “Älä huoli, pelotin sen pois.”Translated, “Don’t worry, I scared it away.” In those days, I wasn’t even aware that the story was only a fairy tale. In my mind, Dad was right.
Scared of wolves and bears
The only animal that Dad said could overpower a wolf was a bear. He said I should never walk alone in the woods because I might run into one of them. We lived in the mountains of New Jersey and I took his advice to heart. I loved being outside, but because I was scared of wolves and bears, I wouldn’t go outside alone. So, Dad would often explore the woods behind our house with my sister and I. Of course he would scare us into staying close to him because I, especially, was prone to wandering off. We listened to him because we knew that Dad was right.
A couple of years went by and I began to suspect that Dad’s stories weren’t totally accurate. There weren’t bears in the woods, I hadn’t ever seen one. I decided that I didn’t believe him any longer. That was my position until one night I was visited by a bear. My bedroom window was set at ground level. And one night, I heard something breathing heavily outside. I gathered my courage and convinced myself to take a look. Getting up from my bed, I walked a few steps to the window and pulled the curtains back. And I found myself face-to-face with a black bear.
I don’t remember more than running upstairs and waking everyone up, “Siellä on karhu! Siellä on karhu!” Which means, “There’s a bear! There’s a bear!” Everyone, even Dad, doubted my story until the next morning when bear prints were found outside my window. This experience gave his stories a few more years of effect. It was a proven fact, Dad was right.
The neighbors saw bears
Years went by and I visited my family in Finland as an adult. The countryside is beautiful and while I was there, I took advantage of walking and running on the endless trails and roads in the village. One morning, when I returned from a particularly long “lenki” (run in English) my uncle asked me where I went. I described the trails and roads I took and he said, “Oh, the neighbors saw bears there yesterday.” My eyes widened and Dad’s stories rushed back to my mind. I made a mental note to ask which trail to take on my next run. Even after all the years, Dad was right.
I’ll remember that Dad was right
As I write this, my Dad is very frail. He is on his last “lenki” towards heaven. I had the blessing of seeing him recently, fully understanding that it could be the last time I see him. His eyes twinkled when I reminded him of the stories he told us as kids. I retold the stories of wolves and bears and reminded him of other times when he cheated at Monopoly (he would hide money under the board).
Even though he can’t carry on a conversation any longer, I think he enjoyed those moments. We hope to travel at the end of the year and if I see him again, we will visit the woods behind our house in New Jersey. He will protect me from the wolves and bears. And I’ll remember that Dad was right.
