Root Problems

I served for a long time as the chairperson of the Finnish Koivisto Society. Koivisto was a township on the Karelian Isthmus, and my mother’s family was originally from there. (it is now under Russian reign.)

Koivisto Church is magnificent. Next to it are graves of Finnish war heroes. Our society organized the demarcation of the burial site and memorial plaques for those interred there. There is an agreement between Finland and Russia concerning the maintenance of such graves.

Then, everything changed in the neighbourhood, and officials went and removed the memorial plaques.

Now, one can only wait.

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Karelian expressions are rich in dialect and humor. I created a series of badges featuring these sayings; a few of them are included in this publication as well.