Will and Testament. Vigdis Hjorth

Klara, she was devastated and sinking fast. I need a change of air, she gasped.

      I worked on the editorial while the email I had promised Bård came together in my head. When I had submitted the editorial late that evening, I opened a new document and poured myself a glass of wine to strengthen my resolve, then suddenly it couldn’t happen soon enough, suddenly it was of the utmost importance to me or perhaps I was scared that I might get cold feet, I wrote as if in a trance and sent it to Bård, although it was late, asking if he thought it was too long.

      To Astrid and Åsa

      Subject: Cabins on Hvaler

      I wrote that, because I had expected no inheritance, I was pleasantly surprised at getting the Christmas letter three years ago which stated that we would all inherit equally. That was why when Mum had called to say that Bård was raising hell because of the cabins, I had said that I thought their will was generous. But that I regretted now, I wrote, that I hadn’t phoned Bård, given that I had later learned that he had merely asked Mum and Dad to consider another and fairer solution, namely that the cabins were shared between us four children so that all the grandchildren could enjoy them. This had been dismissed without explanation, and I didn’t think it was surprising that Bård had got upset at that or that he was upset now when they had been transferred in secret and at such ridiculously low valuations. After all, Bård had never, unlike me, distanced himself from the family, so why should he be treated differently from his younger sisters?

      I wrote that now we knew the cabins had already been transferred in secret and at such low valuations, we must assume the intention was to ensure Bård and me would be left as little as possible in the final will. In other words, more would be given to two branches of the family and less to the other two. Of course this was seen as an injustice and a betrayal. And them blaming Bård for Mum’s overdose on top of everything else was particularly nasty, I wrote, making him out to be the bad guy while they themselves looked good and caring at the hospital. I wrote in anger that the responsibility for the current situation really lay with both of them who, if they had wanted to, could have used their influence to dissuade Mum and Dad from doing what they had now done.

      I calmed down, poured myself another glass of wine and continued by mentioning that in one of my recent conversations with Astrid she had wondered whether Bård might be jealous of her and Åsa. No, we weren’t jealous, I wrote, but we had had a very different childhood to them, our experience of Mum and Dad was very different to theirs. They both had degrees and worked in professions which emphasised rights and equality before the law, the importance of examining both sides of an issue, and the fact that they showed no willingness to understand how Bård and I viewed the situation was depressing. Then I added: The fact that neither of you has at any point asked me about my side of the story, I’ve experienced and continue to experience as deeply hurtful. It needed to be said, I felt. In conclusion, I wrote that throughout our childhood and adulthood Bård and I had been given less than them, emotionally as well as materially, and the fact that we were now passed over so blatantly was distressing to us and our families, especially the realisation that Astrid and Åsa clearly endorsed such discrimination. Regards, Bergljot

      Bård replied immediately that it wasn’t too long, that everything must be included and he pointed out some typos. I would correct them in the morning, I replied, I didn’t want to send it now given how late it was so that Astrid would simply dismiss it as she was wont to do with my angry night-time emails. She deleted them unread, she claimed.