Storebø Church in Austevoll, Norway
Pete's Confirmation Day
After weeks of planning and preparation, Pete's confirmation
day finally arrived. Ruth's brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces arrived,
too. Cars, planes, ferries, catamarans and even some good old fashioned
leg work carried 21 guests to Austevoll - a few had planned on coming but
had been forced to revise their plans because of work or other duties.
Others had written to say, "thanks for the invitation - but we cannot attend
this time...". Chief among those who had managed to get tied up in other
duties was sister Lina, who was on the arrangement committee for the Opera
Ball in Oslo.
The confirmation service was beautiful. The church
was full to capacity of bunads (Norwegian national dress). Those without
a bunad had of course dug out the best of their finest to attempt to match
the colorful bunad dressed. The confirmants, clothed in white robes
over their new outfits, entered in procession behind the ministers.
Typically for western Norway, most every girl receives a bunad from her family for confirmation. It is a spectacular sight when blossoming youth stand so rank and proud in their richly embroidered dress with gold and silver trimmings. The young men are not quite as colorful, but stand out in their first quality suits as grown men.
It is a proud time to be a parent.
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