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Today is a very special day, but sad. It is a day we need to give up something very special and important to us. It is something we have had in joy and sorrow, success and fail, health and sickness, life and death... It is something that has walked with us and supported us, been there for us and doing everything for us. Today is the day we need to say thank you and good bye with a great gratitude. From now on the things will never be the same in this community of little villages.
This place where I live is a community of few small villages leaning to each others side. We have seen bakeries, banks, bars, bike shop, catering, church, community college, clothes shop, dentist, fabric shop, fast food, gas station, groceries, hard ware shop, kiosks, paper factory and restaurant closing their doors.
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We still have few hairdressing salons and masseurs and one car repair shop. But from now on we don't have our tiny little pharmacy anymore. It has located -for decades- by the bay of Gulf of Bothnia where the cycle of the year has created a great scene on surrounding world. The snow storms, fogs, warm summer winds not to mention creepy cold winter days have not stop locals to go. No matter the weather the ladies at the pharmacy have provided the shelter against sun, wind, storms and cold or what ever it was. It has been like a light house on this arctic shore.
Even if the authorities would some day give the permit to re-open the pharmacy, it will never be the same, because the spirit is gone forever. The reason for the closing up is actually the fact of it that today the pressure of the pharmacies to make huge profit is great and the action of running a pharmacy is strict controlled. Today we loose one more piece of special spirit of rural Finland and its communities. This happens all around Finland. Has happen slowly over the decades. The villages dye.
For these thank you cards I have used recycled deer figures from an old wall calendar, labels from a card kit and a very special wrinkled silver paper which was given to me by a very special friend from the big world. I love the silver paper behind the deer, it is like the air over the sea on a foggy day or in the snow storm. Why deer? We have deer around the village and woods. It stands for us all: the ladies and the villagers, me & Him and our children and grandchild.
