One weird weird @ahlavuo #tiktok #automediat #zerograviti #myhelsinki #torino #netflix #italy #travelitaly …

You never asked me why I don`t have children. You probably think this question might offend me. I assure you. This is a matter I openly speak about, and my childlessness has never been a taboo for me. 

Not having kids was not my choice. It was what life had chosen for me, and I took it quietly. Dutifully.

It takes two to have kids. My husband was not fond of the idea from the very beginning. He already had three grown up children from the first marriage when we met, and something weird had always been about their relationships. Cold, distant, arrogant. I never understood that, but I could not do anything. It was not my life…. but believe me. I tried. I loved, and I obeyed.

It was also about my severe kidney desease I suffered for 18 long years… it took those years ment for a motherhood. 

I know the questions you would ask me now. Go on, I promise to answer.

First. Am I unhappy not having  children? – I am neither happy nor unhappy. I can`t change the past, and I focus on the present. Being childless does not make me better or worse than I am.

Second. Was I humiliated for being childless? – Yes, I was. My husband`s children declared publically that our 27 years marriage was fake because there were no kids. In effect, they claimed all my dead husband`s stuff including an old mat from the widow`s floor. 

Third. Was I punished by Finland for being childless? – Yes, I was. I was denied a widow`s pension by the state of Finland. You see, there`s a law in this country. I was 46 y.o. childless widow. If I had a child, I should be paid 100 euros per month. The deadline for a childless widow`s pension in Finland is 50 years. My husband died too early.

Today we celebrate a Father`s Day in Finland. We spent this lovely day together with my niece in a warm sunny Torino. It was a funny, busy and wonderful time. I am entirely grateful to my sister and her husband for raising these amazing kids. I am all yours, with love Auntie Vallu.

#childless #love #mylife #livenow #isänpäivä #fathersday #family #instastory #torino #italy #honestly #automediat #ahlavuo #journalist #love #onelife #livenow #widow #finland #myhelsinki #littleworld #happy #dontgiveup …

Wr are back again …

The winner takes it all #automediat #ahlavuo #rvkuutiset #stetson #barbour …

I am awefully apologizing for spamming this respectable community with my silly anecdotes… but I just can not keep this incredible and true story untold.

It all started with these two magical plants I saw the other day. It was late, and the florist left, but I was totally mesmerized with those bright colorful leaves. I saw these plants growing on Carribean islands while sailing overseas.

I went there yesterday. The florist was a guy with kind blue eyes. We started talking, and I made a bargain. He dropped the price even more after he saw I was really interested in plants. I paid, I took one and asked if I could keep another over night. Today I came to fetch the second plant.

Jari, the florist was there. We started talking again, from flowers and plants to Christmas. He had a big lookbook of fancy decorations. And told him, I was not about new stuff. I love vintage Xmass, and my most favorite decorations are those from Russian emigrants` families from 1920`ies. I knew the second generation. They still lived when I came to live in Helsinki in early 1990`ies.

Suddenly Jari said. You know, my granpa`s father was a chevalier-garde of the Tzar Nicolas II. His name was Arsenij Karelin, and after he emigrated to Helsinki, he worked at Karl Fazer`s conditory.

I told Jari. You will never believe it. I saw your grangrapa`s picture, an ancient one. A strong, tall, stunnig man with a broom. Staying just in front of the iconic Karl Fazer at Kluuvi, Helsinki.

I saw this picture at my friend`s home. Her name was Irina Björklund, and she was then 98 y.o., and I was 23. Her father was a friend of Arsenij Karelin, and he took that picture. The anecdot was that Arsenij was caught in action when he had drunk the punch ment for the Fazer`s baba gateau, and then soaked babas into a strong tea. It all happened in 1920`ies

Jari was speechless. After a while he said. His grandfather always went to Fazer to buy the punch baba gateaus. They were his favorite. He never knew this story.

Who on Earth give me these people? What for? It`s been hundred years since this little funny thing went from a grangranfather to a grangranson, and I was a link… Share your story, talk, write. …

When I travelled to East Africa last January, I never knew that in less than a year I would become a Brand Ambassador of @primatesafrica in Nordics.

And when I flew from Nairobi back to Paris in early February, I felt like I left my heart somewhere on a safari road. I will drive those roads until I`ll find my lost heart. I will start my adventure in Rwanda.

@primatesafrica #visitrwanda #rwanda #africa #primatesafrica #automediat #finland #ahla #ahlavuo #traveller #solotraveller @w.o.r.l.d10 …

One weird weird household #myhelsinki …

There never been such a fascinating, turbolent and sleepless October in my life. November magazine is in print. I would never ever do it without you. You know.

www.automediat.com

#october #autumn #myhelsinki #automediat #ahlavuo #helsinki #instastory …