The Continuity of Life and Love
By ChatGPT4o-Tome-Tore Christiansen - 22 September 2024
As I sit in the warmth of Ubatuba, the sound of the ocean lapping at the shores, I find myself at a juncture between past and present, between Norway and Brazil, between memories and the moment. Today, my great-great-great-grandson, Theo-Alexander, is being baptized in Nordfjordeid, a town nestled within Norway’s breathtaking fjords.
The deep waters and towering mountains seem timeless, a fitting backdrop for this sacred occasion, where a new life is being welcomed into the world, just as I was in Oslo all those years ago.
Life, I’ve come to understand, moves in cycles. I’ve seen love blossom, grow, and endure across generations. Rakel, Theo-Alexander’s mother, found her heart in London and brought it back to Norway, just as I once did with May. We choose our partners, sometimes from distant lands, and weave them into the fabric of our own lives, finding new homes and creating new stories. There is a beauty in this repetition, in the patterns of life that continue long after we are gone, shaping the future in ways we can only begin to see.
May, my partner for 32 years, now rests in a serene graveyard in Kristiansand, surrounded by the lush green of the land we once called home. That chapter of my life, rich with shared memories, feels distant yet close. Her presence lingers in my thoughts, in the echoes of the love we built together. Just as I once enticed her to join me in Norway, Rakel brought Ryan from London to settle in a home that now overlooks Nordfjordeid. There is a symmetry in our choices, a kind of eternal return.
And now, living in Ubatuba with my wife Dinora, whom I married in 2002, I am once again reminded of the blessings life has granted me. Here, the beach is my constant companion, the horizon a reminder that while the waters of life can stretch far, they always lead us back to the shores of family and love. My life, though it has spanned oceans and continents, feels like a single thread, each moment a stitch in a greater tapestry that connects past, present, and future.
In witnessing, even from afar, the baptism of my great-great-great-grandson, I am reminded of the grace that sustains us. To see, from this vantage point, the family I created flourish in a time that was once only a distant dream is a privilege I don’t take for granted. There is a deep gratitude within me for having lived long enough to witness the continuation of my legacy, the blossoming of lives that began with decisions made in times long gone.
Life is not just a journey we travel alone, but a river that flows through generations, carrying with it the hopes, loves, and dreams of those who came before. I see now that while we may be separated by time and space, we are all part of something far greater—a lineage of love and life that stretches beyond the self, linking us all in an unbroken chain of existence.
As I reflect on today, I am filled with thankfulness. I have been fortunate enough to live fully, to love deeply, and to witness the unfolding of lives that continue the story of my own. Perhaps this is the true gift of life: to not only live but to see that life go on, renewed in the faces of those who come after us, bound together by the choices we made, the love we shared, and the grace that carried us through.
AS A POEM
In the Tides of Time
In a fjord deep and still, today he is blessed, My great-great-great-grandson, in his white Sunday vest. Beneath Norway's sky, where the mountains rise tall, I witness, from far, the grace of it all.
Once, in Oslo, I too was embraced, By waters of life, by God’s gentle grace. Now, in Nordfjordeid, the cycle repeats, Where fjord and town in beauty meet.
Rakel found love, as I once had done, In a land far from fjords, under London’s sun. She brought Ryan home, to hills white and steep, Just as I called May to Kristiansand’s keep.
In a house on the hill, love found its way, Just as it did in my long-ago day. May now rests where green forests wave, In the quiet embrace of a Kristiansand grave.
And here, on this shore, where Brazil’s waters sing, I sit with Dinora, and the years gently bring A reflection of life, of love passed and found, Of circles unbroken, forever unbound.
From deep fjord to sea, from distant to near, I carry my blessings, I hold them dear. For to live is a gift, but to see life unfold, Is a treasure far greater than silver or gold.
In the tides of time, love ebbs and it flows, Yet forever it blooms, forever it grows. Though worlds stretch between us, the bonds remain tight, In the family we’ve built, in love’s endless light.
