Comments on: Dismissed

By: Meow

Meow — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:07:04 +0000

This made me cry. I saw too much of my own childhood here and had always thought “Thank God I’m the only one this miserable bullshit happened to”. Just replace intended-cruelty from mother who moved around ALL THE TIME with a neglectful I-just-can’t-handle-being-a-mom mother who moved around ALL THE TIME and one evil bastard of a stepdad for several militant abusive alcoholic boyfriends. I’m very impressed that you pulled through it to become such an incredible and funny person. It’s a testament to your strength.

By: Hannah Joy Curious

Hannah Joy Curious — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 05:45:33 +0000

Alda… I read this about a week ago, nodding all the way. You made me feel less abnormal and less alone. Many of the things you speak of happened to me too. I’m glad you seem to have found your spot in the world, some stability and a loving family of your own. I’m still looking for all of those and the search does take its toll at times. Thank you for your words.

By: Habba Grace

Habba Grace — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:11:02 +0000

Thank you so much for leading me to this post. And yes, I will surely wait for things to ease up for you, with your busy schedule at the moment. But as I said earlier, I honestly want to meet you, in fact now I feel I HAVE to meet you. This whole thing is just so weird – by that I mean the timing of my expressing interest in meeting up with you, for instance. Can´t wait for that to happen. It will be good, for sure.
Let me know if you might want a slice of apple pie, some whipped cream and coffee to recharge your batteries in the midst of cramming for your exams, that would be nice. At any rate, good luck in your studies, new job and all else. See you later. And thanks for your post.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:48:08 +0000

Awesome post.
No, to me your post is nothing to do with wallowing in it or self pity. This is you. Here it is. It’s on the table, so there’s no need to ask. You get rid of the preliminary bullshit and get to what matters…and that is the weather.

I think it is probably cold and crappy right now. I haven’t looked at your latest post.

I found you because I did a search for Noatun+Iceland and you had your rant about buying coffee there. I have to tell you, I hate their bloody commercials on the television. My husband (a fellow Icelander living in Canada with me!), watches the news everyday and if I hear that advert for Noatun one more time I am going to have a stroke.

And I know what you mean about the checkout cashiers. Apathetic is not a strong enough word to describe them. I’m not sure if it was there or at kronan that my husband, Astvaldur, went to the checkout to pay and put his basket up. She stood there, not saying a word for about a minute, looking at him with this blank look on her face. Finally he asked what the problem was. She said in a monotone voice “you have to take the groceries out of the basket”. I thought he would blow a gasket right there. It took her a minute of his time to tell him that. Why not take them out and tell him afterward, as a point of customer service for a person who was obviously unfamiliar with the policy.

Thanks for making me laugh. Thanks for being real.
Beta

By: Traci P

Traci P — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:26:23 +0000

I just wanted to commend you on the bravery of this post, and the long distances you have traveled to gain such a perspective.

By: Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:43:51 +0000

You are a brave person to tell your story so publicly. I am much more the other way of extreme shyness. My father and your mother would be bookends, identical.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:02:11 +0000

Dear Alda

There are so many parts of the story that are parallels to my life but you are much braver than me. My mother is incapable of expressing her feelings. I was raised by my extended family and even to this day feel abandoned. However I have gotten enough therapy now to know that I will not change her anymore. I vow to not be like her and in many ways I have succeeded with my own children. However there are some days where I can be pretty messed up thinking about all those missed hugs and shows of love.

This is my first time on your blog and I enjoy it a lot. Keep it up. You are great.

By: Daphne

Daphne — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:52:36 +0000

I’m from Leeds in the North of England. I’ve just found your blog and have been really enjoying it and this piece about your childhood was both gripping and horrifying. I’ve bookmarked your blog and I’ll be back, thank you. I have always wanted to visit Iceland but Britain’s doing a pretty good imitation of it at the moment!

By: KB

KB — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:54:49 +0000

Alda,
I´m speachless…
I really admire you, your perseverance and your warm heart.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Love.

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:29:56 +0000

Hæ Alda,

I found your blog by chance as I’m always looking for more infos about Iceland since I became addicted in 2004 when I first visited your country.

Your story is really sad and I can imagine pretty well what it felt like (and probably still does on some occasions). Destroying a child’s self-confidence is probably the worst thing parents can do. It’s a great achievement that you survived this and lead a normal life now and, most importantly, don’t pass the “lessons your learned from your parents” on to the next generation. You can really be proud of yourself.

Bless,

Martin