📖 Excerpt from Chapter 6
“In Italy, dad had to be: the perfect son, the traditional husband, the strong man. In Norway, dad can be: the present father, the sensitive man, the free person. And this is home.”
— Chapter 6: Norway
📖 Excerpt
“Home isn't where you are born. Home is where you choose to stay. The cold was real. But the welcome was warmer than expected. In Norway I learned that you don't have to choose between two worlds. You can be the bridge.”
— Chapter 6: Norway
📖 More from Chapter 6
Norway was the last country. The destination. But arriving didn't feel like an ending — it felt like a beginning. Because by the time I reached Norway, I had stopped looking for home as a place. I had started building it as a practice.
The Norwegian model of fatherhood changed me. In Italy, men of my generation were expected to provide, to protect, to be strong. Emotion was weakness. Vulnerability was dangerous. In Norway, I watched fathers push strollers, take parental leave, cry at their children's school plays. And nobody thought less of them for it.
This was the permission I didn't know I needed. Permission to be present. To be soft. To say “I love you” without embarrassment. To break the cycle of emotional distance that I had inherited from my father, who had inherited it from his.
Giulia will never wait in a stroller while I talk to other adults. Giulia will always hear “I love you.” Giulia will always be free to feel what she feels. Because Norway taught me that the most important thing a father can do is be there — fully, completely, without reservation.
🏔️ Theme
Freedom to Be
Being yourself, without masks.
💬 Question
“What does a good welcome look like to you?”
🔑 Secret Word
HOME