The Finns of the Keweenaw have an enduring core of strength called sisu. An English equivalent doesn’t exist, but stories across place and cultures capture the ability to overcome adversity. Sisu is not short-term like a moment of courage. Sisu is life’s marathon.

Regardless of familiarity with the word, writers searched their experiences and imaginations to craft stories of sisu. It’s a world-wide look at Copper Country Strong.

The following are based on the May 7, 2019. Use the comment section below to share, read and be social.

PART I (10-minute read)

Sisu by Floridaborne

“Hey, mom!” Callie shouted. “I learned a new word today.”

Mom rolled her eyes and asked, “What is it now, skooder-do?”

“Sisu!”

“What!” Mom shouted, reaching for homemade soap to wash her daughter’s mouth out.

“It’s not a curse word, Mom! It’s a word that describes you.”

“This better be good,” Mom grumbled.

“You sew clothes from remnants, make all our curtains and you reupholstered our furniture,” Callie said. “You grow our veggies in the summer and can the rest for later.”

“We can’t afford anything else.”

“Mom,” Callie said, hugging her warmly. “You’re the strongest person I know.”

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Bricktown Boys by Pete Fanning

Mom pulled me into her, holding me as she sobbed. “Sam, I’m so sorry you got hurt.”

I hugged her back. A stale, bitter smell clung to her shirt, to her skin. I realized it was the smell of our apartment. Of our lives. How we smelled to people. The stench of desperation, mistakes, of dating the same men over and over again.

She rocked along with sobs and apologies, but I wasn’t about to wait for Troy to hurt us again. I was tired of the stench. Of our lives.

I would take matters into my own hands.

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Sisu by H.R.R. Gorman

“What’s this two year gap in your resume?” The hiring manager pointed to circled dates on the paper. “What did you do there?”

Joaquin clenched his fist. “There’s a Finnish word – sisu. It means to keep trudging through multiple adversities.” He tapped the circled words on the resume. “That’s why I’m here. I want this job because I can overcome my past.”

The manager scowled. “So you were traveling? To Finland?”

“No, I…” He coughed. “I was in prison.”

“For what?”

“Drug charges,” he squeaked.

She handed Joaquin his resume. “Thank you, but we won’t be needing your services.”

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Abundant Optimism by JulesPaige

The man has sisu. Very close to living to that century mark. Served his country in the Navy. Got into computers at the git go. Loved his wife for over fifty years with unflappable devotion.

The Vets Administration told him he was legally blind at ninety five. Sold his car to a local dealership, who then drove him back to his house.

The man has sisu. He’s lived alone for over twenty years. Refuses to leave his home. Finally accepts help from the neighbors, on his terms.

enduring strength, life;
living as you choose daily
the man has sisu

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Sisu by Brendan Thomas

Jane opened the door, I was shaken. Back to back to back Cancers took a toll on her body, but not her spirit. We sat, drank tea, talked, laughed long and loud, planned for future meetings.

“I can do that, I’m in remission. My calendar is filling up with fun appointments again.”

As I was leaving I remembered the t-shirt, removing it from the bag to give to her.

“This is for you.”

Unfurled it read SISU, blue letters against white.

“What does it mean?” she asked.

“It’s Finnish for Jane,” I responded. I’m not sure she believed me.

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After The Funeral by Joanne Fisher

I had just come back from the funeral of my girlfriend. We had been in a car crash. I survived, she didn’t.

“How do I go on without her?” I cried out to my father who had come back with me so I wasn’t alone.

“With sisu.” My father replied.

“Sisu?” I didn’t understand.

“It’s a Finnish word for having determination, or possessing inner strength. I know you are strong Kathleen. It may not seem like it now, but I know you will get through this, like I did with your mother.” he told me.

I really hoped so.

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Sisu – DNA by Sally Cronin

They found the old bones in a cave in Southern France. They were packed carefully and dispatched to a laboratory where they identified them as the remains of a woman in her 40s. This was elderly for her time, with arthritis and healed broken bones evidence of her hard life. Her mitochondrial DNA was matched to millions of women who migrated across the continent as ice thawed, populating almost every part of Europe and beyond. Her genes survived through the centuries and 20,000 years later matched to a young woman, who discovered where all her strength had come from.

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More Strength Than Meets the Eye by TN Kerr

It is born from bitter winter cold
Not a nip or chill, but a biting, vicious cold
A cold that comes with long, nights, and
Northern lights
It has nothing to do with gain
It’s about diving into the water
Simply for the sake of it
It’s about laughing in the face of tragedy
It’s about mocking and defeating whatever adversity is thrown your way
Always getting up
Something akin to, yet more than,
Dogged perseverance
Intensity that thrives in the long days of summer

You are stronger than any one of us, or even you, could ever imagine

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Plowshares by D. Avery

Her little boy and her daughters worked chores according to their size and ability but he, the youngest, wasn’t scolded when he sometimes fell to playing. But this?

Flinging the stick, she stalked off to the barn.

“Ma, it was just pretendin’!”
He had never known his father and older brother who used to do the heavy fieldwork. ‘Back before harvest time,’ they’d said, left together, eyes bright with adventure.

Pressing her forehead against the horse’s broad neck she confessed her worries.

She wouldn’t allow another son to play at war.

She harnessed the horse and hitched the plow.

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Snow Storm by Abhijit Ray

Mikka was out to do some fishing, catch up with reading and have some quiet time in his cottage up north. He must have missed weather forecast. Storm caught Mikka unprepared. Running low on food and fuel, and suffering from poor cell phone connectivity, Mikka realised the extra can of gasoline in the trunk will only last so long.

“Either I make an effort to reach home or freeze here to death,” Mikka reasoned and made his way following a weak GPS signal.

“Show Sisu, when in trouble,” dad taught him. In his country, “sisu” meant grit to overcome hurdles.

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Make It Work by Kelley Farrell

“Find your inner strength. We all have something we’re good at. Something we’re prepared for, even if we don’t realize it. What ignites that fire in you?”

That was when Becky had one dollar to her name.

Joe was right of course. Everybody has something to be fanned from sparks of passion.

Becky had three mouths to feed and an extensive debt to the local sex shop.

“Made it work indeed!” Joe admired Becky’s new business locale. “Mistress Cyan’s Pleasure Room.”

“Number 1 in the city.” Becky smiled, “Want to try it out? No charge for my oldest friend.”

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Dedication by Shane Kroetsch

Langdon sat staring at his hands. He scratched at the dry skin on his knuckles. “I did what needed to be done. It wasn’t easy, but I found a way.”

“That’s something to be proud of, isn’t it?” Emma said.

Langdon shrugged. “I gave my word. Not much more to it.”

“I think it says a lot about your character, the fact that you dedicated years of your life to the cause.”

Langdon’s lips went thin and he looked up to Emma. “Maybe it does say a lot. What it doesn’t say is whether it was worth the cost.”

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Sisu by Anita Dawes

Sisu is woven into our DNA
lying dormant, waiting , trapped quicksilver
hoping the day never comes where we will be tested
Do we freeze, or jump into action to save a life?
where we meet a part of ourselves
we would not recognise in the mirror
the hero who hides behind that pinstriped suit
mild-mannered like the man of steel
we would you run into a burning building
because you heard a cry for help?
many think we could go one step beyond
if called upon to act
would you leap without thinking
does quicksilver run through your veins?

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Sisu Book-su by Ritu Bhathal

Finally, time to sit down and read.

“Mum! I’m hungry!”

Don’t worry book, I’ll be back.

“Okay dear.”

Child fed. Back to my book.

“Honey, do you know where my tie is?”

Tie found. Where was I?

Raised voices and screaming.

Book down.

“What is the matter with the two of you? Okay, Tom, you sit here with that Lego. Amelia, draw me a picture over here. No, not near your brother!”

Ah, chapter two I think–

Ring, ring.

“Hello? Hi mum…”

Twenty minutes later.

“Okay, bye mum. Speak to you tomorrow.”

That book. I will get it read.

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PART II (10-minute read)

Says You by Bill Engleson

In that moment, he prepared to let go.

Time had stopped.

Nothing moved in the room.

A spike of sun slipped along the ceiling.

No breeze ruffled the curtains.

Outside, there were street sounds.

Tires.

Metal clanging.

Voices.

Life moving.

Jill held his hand. Steady. No squeezes. Just steady.

“You’ll be fine,” he thought.

“Says you,” she said.

“Says me,” he thought.

“A lot you know,” she said.

“I know you,” he thought. “I might waver without you, but you, you have a steel spine. A Viking’s heart.”

A gust of warm wind blew in.

A candle flickered.

Darkness.

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New Bride by Ruchira Khanna

“Dad, I can’t take it anymore!” the new bride lamented over the telephone.

“Give it some time. Don’t make a hasty decision.”

“But, Dad his family’s so different than how I’ve been brought up! They have weird tastes, and most of the time they live with us,” she sobbed.

“Look at the positive side; you have a loving husband. Give it some time; otherwise, we’re always there for you!”

She put down the phone as she wiped her tear, “For the sake of Sam, I shall become sisu for a few days and then decide what to do next.”

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Cross Roads by Saifun Hassam

As a marine archaeologist, Pierre Yandeau loved exploring deep ocean waters. Then his fiance and colleague Georgina was killed in a diving accident off the Great Shelf Peninsula. Sisu. Pierre returned to his research at the Pacific Institute. He would never forget Georgina. He knew he had a decision to make.

The Great Shelf Institute invited him to join their ecological and archaeological faculty. He walked along the endless desert shores of the Shelf. Once this was under deep ocean water. Who had carved those ancient runes on the rocky plateaus inland? He would explore, he would learn. Sisu.

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Sisu by Kay Kingsley

She’d been through a lot more than most but she knows it’s not as much as some others. Described as a rock, strong and sturdy, people were drawn to her strength like a magnet. And when she was young that need fed her soul, gave her purpose, direction, and she felt like a mountain.

But as the years passed, she learned that even the toughest rocks are worn smooth by a gentle trickle of water and strong winds can erode mountains into dust.

It’s a fine line she thinks between sisu and stubbornness and she walks it with grace.

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Claire’s Sisu by calmkate

Claire a vivacious 32 year old roamed the world sorting out ‘awkward’ situations for a billionaire for over a decade. Confronted with aggressive breast cancer her imminent demise was her greatest challenge.

Resilience is our inner strength, our ability to deal with overwhelming even impossible challenges. It has a strong spiritual component supplemented by mental and emotional factors. Most don’t realise they have it until they are truly tested.

Claire had to dig deep and with the right support her sisu kicked in empowering her until the brain tumour took over. She died with dignity, love and real peace.

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Seeding by Sascha Darlington

he rains come early. My granddaddy used to say: can’t put seeds in drenched soil.

Almost immediately it’s hot. The cool weather crops produce little. Too hot, too soon.

And then there’s more rain, and Daniel yells at me and the kids, while taking off his Cardinal’s cap, splaying his fingers through his crop of hair, his eyes searching here and yet remotely for answers that won’t come.

He sits on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor. “The seeds rot in the soil, Cam.”

“We’ll start them indoors.”

“Might work. But we’d need a butt-load.”

“So?”

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Sisu by Ann Edall-Robson

Some mornings she watched the moon set as the sun rose. Night and day blended into each other. Days off became planning time for the days to come. Often the work made her brain weary and physically worn, yet Hanna continued to push herself.

Mrs. Johnson understood Hanna’s tenacity, her sisu. The older woman had seen it before. There was no doubt why the young woman would not rest until she had accomplished what she had quietly taken on.

Others didn’t understand Hanna’s attitude, but Mrs. Johnson could see the reasoning in her eyes, her stance, and relentless perseverance.

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We Got Grit by Susan Sleggs

“Remember when we were teenagers, we thought we had the world by the tail,” Lillian mused.

“Those were the days,” Maude answered.

“Guess we learned life wasn’t easy didn’t we?”

“Yeah, about my 40th birthday I figured out I didn’t know sh*t back then.”

“Now you’re 90, what do ya think?”

“The truth; there are only tiny snippets of peace in any one’s life. Responsibilities, hardships, and illness are ever present and only thing means anything is how a person handles all the crap.”

“That’s grit my friend.”

“Good thing we both got it. It’s what’s kept us goin’.”

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Paid in Full by Nicole Horlings

He sat down heavily. She looked up with disappointment. “No overtime?”

“Not today. And I may come home early tomorrow. The market’s been dead lately.” He leaned back and groaned. “I promised to provide for you.”

“And you are. I was able to pay all of our bills in full today.”

He looked surprised, then a grin broke across his face. “Really?” She nodded, and pulled a letter out of her pocket, handing it to him. “Your artwork won first place? That’s fantastic!” She grinned, took the cheque, and slipped it into a jar of loose change labeled vacation.

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No Lion Sleeps Tonight by Susan Zutautas

One scorching sunny morning everyone gathered together by the Quiver tree, deep in the forest to discuss the shortage of food.

Leo starts the meeting with, “Good morning” to the pride.

“Tonight, we will go and hunt a zebra. I spotted a dazzle last night and if we’re quick and stealth there won’t be a problem.”

“Papa, papa, can I come too for the hunt?” said Leo’s cub.

“Yes, I think it is a fine time for you to join us, time to develop your sisu.”

“Okay all, we’ll meet back here at dusk, don’t be late,” said Leo.

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The Animal Facts of Life by Chelsea Owens

“Elephants are pregnent fohr two years!”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh. Dhey also have duh biggest bwains of mammals.”

She smiled in the rearview mirror at her son. He sat hunched over his animal facts book.

“You know,” she ventured, “there’s a saying that ‘an elephant never forgets.’ Maybe because of their big brains.”

He didn’t answer. She knew he heard; he always did. That, the slight speech impediment, and his obsession with one topic made adults think he didn’t.

She sighed and rubbed her stomach, wondering how he’d handle being a big brother. Unlike an elephant, they only had nine months.

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Targets Targets! by Anurag Bakhshi

“Get up,” he called out, insistently, incessantly.

I shook my head and tried to get on to my feet, but tumbled down, again.

It was just too cold, and my body needed rest, desperately.

But he just wouldn’t give up.

“Get up,” he cried out again, “they’re counting on us.”

And that, more than his pushing, is what led me to dig deep into my sisu, my inner strength, and with a huge heave and a loud wheeze, I finally got up.

Harsh winters or not, Christmas Eve was no time for one of Santa’s chief reindeer to sleep!

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Sisu by Roberta Eaton

I have been thinking about my situation. Now that my headache has receded, I need to formulate an escape plan. I must exhibit sisu and find a way out of this locked room.

I have no idea why I have been locked in, but I know that my wife and son must need me. Someone brought me food and drink while I was sleeping so my superiors are clearly monitoring my movements. I need to find a way to fool the microchip in my head into believing I am sleeping. Then, when someone comes, I can make my move.

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Something Evil in the Night (from Miracle of Ducks) by Charli Mills

Successive gun shots startled Danni from sleep. 2:04 a.m. She reached for Ike’s AR-15 resting between the dresser and wall. Years of Ike drilling her lent a strange familiarity to her husband’s weapon. But he was halfway around the world in Iraq. She dialed 9-1-1. The nearest deputy was 25 minutes away. Stepping outside, rifle cradled in the crook of her arm, Danni watched a silent pack of wolves run like liquid silver across the frozen pond in moonlight. Danni understood: Wolves run with sisu in their blood, outpacing the malevolence that follows – men with no regard for life.

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His Darling Susi by Di @ pensitivity101

Her name was Susi, but to him she was his little Sisu.
From an early age, she had always been the stronger of the two of them. She had this way about her, would accept anything that life pushed her way and simply deal with it without complaint or fuss.
He’d read to her that night and like every other night, she told him she loved him.
‘Don’t worry Daddy,’ she said snuggling into his chest and pointing to his heart. ‘I’ll always be in here.’
God came for her that night, his darling Sisu, just ten years old.

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Marathon Reversal by Anne Goodwin

At fifteen miles, she hits the wall. A stich in her side, legs in cramp, she staggers, sapped of juice. But she’d run through the pain in training. Today, the crowds and her fellow runners would cheer her on.

Wolfing down an energy bar, she recovers her mojo. But what the fuck? When she turns around to jog back to the beginning, they ask if she’s lost her mind.

If all goes well, she’ll do the distance. And a little more. She laughs at the thought of missing that marathon medal. ‘My way’ fills the hollow in her head.

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Keeping Promises by Jo Hawk

Eino said caring for his invalid mother wouldn’t be easy, but his work took him abroad for months. The cabin had been her home since childhood. I didn’t imagine it would be this difficult. The closest neighbor lived miles away. We were alone.

Daytime was bearable. Aiti’s care and the daily chores kept me busy. I marked the calendar, counting days.

Then the storms descended. Howling winds crashed waves against the cliff, and spray pelted the windows. The house creaked, while my mind played games. The meager fire staved off ghosts while the clock counted the minutes until dawn.

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Ranch Yarns by D. Avery

“Pal, you been on the ranch yer whole life?”

“Yep, reckon ya could say so. In thet I cain’t remember nuthin’ afore bein’ here.”

“Well, that’s a whole lotta hard work, all that ranchin’, day in and day out.”

“Yep, I reckon. Jist what a ranch hand does, Kid. Roll out ever mornin’ an’ jist do what’s gotta be done.”

“That’s sisu, Pal.”

“How is thet Japanese physical combat training?”

“Finnish. Sisu.”

“Says you. An’ finish whut? Ranch work ain’t ever finished Kid. No matter the weather or season. But it’s who I am. It’s what I do.”

“Sisu.”

***

“Sisu, Pal. Means yer tough, resilient.”

“If ya say so, Kid. Jist know I like ranchin’, an’ this here’s a good outfit. Shorty’s good ta work for.”

“Ya sure ‘bout that, Pal? This job have benefits?”

“Lots uv’em. Fresh air, wide open spaces, good folks,—“

“No, Pal. Benefits. Health insurance, fer instance. What happens if ya git hurt on the job?”

“Reckon Shorty’d take care a me.”

“Ya’d let Shorty take care a ya?”

“Yeah.”

“Now that’s true grit. Heard she heps till it hurts. Might wanna talk ta her Cowboy ‘bout her care givin’ skills.”

“That’s cold, Kid.”

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