The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2009, Side 47

Vol. 62 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
137
Lang-amma Hrund Skulason
by Thora Mclnnis
My lang-amma and I have a special
bond. She was just a little girl when she left
Iceland to move to Canada. So was I! I too,
was only four when I moved to Canada
with my mom. We have that in common. I
loved when she told me the story of her
journey from Iceland. It was a long sea
voyage that occurred just after the Titanic
disaster and it had all the elements of a
great adventure. I asked her to tell me the
story again and again.
The word “dugleg” always comes to
mind when I think of lang-amma. It is an
Icelandic word that means more than just
someone who is busy. It means someone
who is hard working, creative and is always
doing something constructive. Every one
of us in this room has a keepsake from
lang-amma’s hands. We have fine shawls,
doilies, afghans, scarves, tablecloths; all
made with love from her incredibly skilled
fingers. As babies, each of us great-grand-
children was dressed in the finest knitted or
crochetted hats, baby sweaters, dresses and
booties courtesy of lang-amma. The output
was amazing! I think it is very special that
we all have heirlooms from an ancestor we
actually know.
Lang-amma has been a constant in my
life forever. When we were younger, visit-
ing at Brandon with my amma Gudrun
Mclnnis, lang-amma often came with us.
The two matriarchs taught me how to play
whist and cribbage. They told me stories
and made me feel like I was a very lucky
girl to have such a great amma and lang-
amma.
Visiting lang-amma has always been
my way of keeping in touch with everyone
in the family. Through her, I got to know
my aunts, uncles and cousins. Each time I
came to visit I would spend time looking at
all her cards and pictures and catch up on
the lives of all her grandchildren and great-
grandchildren. I got to see wedding invita-
tions, birth announcements and pictures.
Back row left to right: Signy with baby, father
Melvin Mclnnis. Front: Thora McGinnis and
Langamma Hrund Skulason
She always had lots of pictures. Cousins I
barely knew became real. We are scattered
on a couple of continents and we never get
to see each other. The best connection I
have to many of my cousins is through the
pictures and explanations that I got from
lang-amma.
Another thing that was special when
we visited her, we always got fresh baking
and ponnukukur. Also, we almost always
got angel food cake with strawberries and
whipped topping. Whenever I see straw-
berry shortcake, I think of lang-amma.
Once in our discussions of things past and
present lang-amma told me that, in her
opinion, one of the greatest culinary prod-
ucts of modern times is whipped topping!
It was so much easier than the old-fash-
ioned method of beating and beating the
cream; which had to be done the minute
you needed it; otherwise it went flat. It was
tedious and tiring. Whenver I find myself
taking things for granted in these times of
instant everything, what lang-amma said
has often made me stop and think. Life is