LEAVING SAFE HARBORS

Part One

The first time when I both physically and “mentally” left a harbor was when my parents divorced.

I was about 9-10 old. I always used to tell people I was about 11, because I could not remember exactly when it was, but through my genealogical research I found out that my Dad - Lars Vilhelm Henry Madsen remarried to Sigrid Olsen 11 April 1947 in the Copenhagen town hall.

For me it was a shock. My mother, my sister Birgit and I had to leave a place where we had lived since I was about 2-3 years old. Munkebjergvej 53 on Amager.

It was my “safe harbor”.  It was where my friends were and all the memories of my parents and my two sisters Inge Lise and Birgit.  It was where I felt safe and happy.

Whenever people ask me where did you live as a child, I said “On Amager”, in Copenhagen.

It was where the Germans walked the streets while Birgit and I had to go out and pick up coal on the road for our stove to heat up our house, but for us that was life.

It was the place where the teenagers gathered at night by the little pond and played accordions and sang songs and us kids tried to catch the frogs and instead ended up with leaches all over our legs.

It was the place where I remember lying in the field and listen to the birds singing and making braids for our hair out of the Dany Lions.

My Dad planted all the trees and bushes there and I helped him put in potatoes and vegetables.

It was where he slaughtered our pig so we could eat.  I did not like when he killed my rabbits.  They were my pets.  Nor did I like when he chopped off the heads of the chickens and I had to plug the weathers off.

Taarnby Vandtaarn

But no matter good or bad, for me when I think of my “happiest childhood” it was on Amager. It was a “safe harbor” for a happy child with two parents she loved.

It was where I got in trouble for picking off all the heads of tulips, so I could make a stand and sell them.

It was where I had my black and white cat.

It was where my Dad had given me “horsey rides” on his shoulders.

It was where we all had to be quiet when Dad had to listen to the CBC radio under the war.

It was where I wore my red wooden shoes.

It was where I was willing to walk what seems forever to purchase one stick of black licorice.

It was where my friends, Inge, and Aase and Ole was.

It was where my first boyfriend was.  Yes. We were only about 3-4 years old.

It all suddenly came to a halt when my Dad decided that he wanted another woman. Sigrid.

After my parents’ divorce in 1947 – only two years after the 2^nd World War ended my mom, my sister Birgit and I moved to Kongshøjgade 2, the fourth floor to the right-on Vesterbro – Enghave Plads.

I was supposed to attend Enghave Plads School right away.  I was in grade 5.

But I wanted to go back to Taarnby school so my mom allowed me to drive my bike all the way through town from Vesterbro to Amager. Everybody thought I was crazy doing it.  But I needed to get back to “my safe harbor”.

Taarnby School

I loved my school teacher Christian Pedersen in Taarnby School and that year he helped me a lot to slowly make the adjustment from country life to city life.  When Christian Pedersen found out that my parents had divorced he invited me to his home and his wife would make awesome dinner for me. He was my “safe harbor” in a difficult time in my life.

A new life that it took me a long time to accept and understand.

Vibeke Lindhardt

16 July 2017