By Ruth Koehler

Special to the Dispatch

I can vividly see it lifted off the stove, its contents carefully poured into Grandma Bieda’s small cup in Rantsila, Finland circa 1920.  She sips her coffee slowly as she savors her precious morning surroundings in her wood heated small kitchen.  How sad and excited she must have felt knowing this was her last cherished ritual in this place.  It is also part of my history.

Because Bieda knew it was her last time using  her teapot in her kitchen, she relished each sip. Since  she knew her ship the Arcturus was departing for America in a few hours, it was a momentous occasion.  I visualize her heating the teapot water, listening for perking sounds.  She added the grounds, letting them steep as she gazed at her traveling trunk on the floor.  Did she forget any essentials for her two young daughters and herself?

But Bieda needed to move more quickly than normal.  She took her last sip, rinsed the cup and teapot, lovingly wrapped  the teapot inside a blanket and placed it inside the trunk.  Although feeling loved, the teapot was confused by all this wrapping.

Bieda and her daughters also had smaller satchels to carry on the Arcturus at Hanko, the boarding place.  They weren’t aware the voyage to Quebec would take so long.

Meanwhile, the teapot lay snuggled inside the family trunk in storage, unaware of it being aboard the vessel as they lurched and swayed along.  Although the movement became soothing, the teapot wondered what was happening.

Although the teapot was unaware of anything, many unusual sights took place for Grandma and girls on the ship.  The youngest daughter, Tina, (my mother) saw her first African American man, and he was eating an ice cream cone.  They all recalled a few passengers becoming seasick.

Upon finally reaching Quebec, passengers needed be checked for any suspected illnesses such as trachoma of the eyes, or other maladies which could send them back home.  How sad that must have been!

Fortunately,  the trunk and its contents remained with Bieda and girls as they disembarked the Arcturus and boarded another vessel to Duluth, Minnesota, then on to Blowers Township, Ottertail County, where they became acquainted with their new home.  And what a surprise it was!

Bieda’s husband Johann had arrived seven years earlier as an indentured servant working for a farmer in North Dakota.  He saved enough money to send for his family and build them a log home.  Mother Tina recalls being excited, yet disappointed since it was the same type of house they had in Finland.  She had visualized America being a land of milk and honey!  However, she soon learned to love the house.

Upon landing, the teapot was warm and cozy in the trunk.  Eventually its blanket wrapping was removed and it was placed on a new shelf in Bieda’s kitchen, waiting to be used.  The teapot didn’t recognize the new shelf.

But Bieda had lots to organize and put away.  The teapot would have to wait. They were very tired from the long voyage and were most delighted when the sauna became hot..the first sauna in America!  

The next morning, the teapot was ready.  Bieda retrieved it from the shelf and recreated her precious ritual of Rantsila, Finland.  Although the surroundings were new she felt a sense of home.  She saw familiar trees, her family, sights similar to Finland outside.  And these little bits of home kept her at peace as she sipped from her cup.  The teapot was also happy since Bieda was happy.

Grandma Bieda continued to live in this spot the rest of her life until she passed away at age 85 in 1960.  Johann had built a new house on this yard, so the teapot got another new shelf, always taken care of to insure its pristine look.  It then became Mother Tina’s who cherished it at her farm home, then to her home in New York Mills, and finally to her apartment home.  The teapot loved having been cared for.

The teapot sits on our buffet as a loving reminder of family history.  When I pick it up to dust it, it stirs memories of its life with Bieda in Rantsila.