Adults whispered about little Hanna-Riika’s fingers – Parents Eva-Riitta and Matti “Fredi” Siitonen didn’t want to make them a number –

Eva-Riitta and Matti “Fredi” Siitonen with a baby girl, Hanna-Riikka Siitonahad abnormal fingers, can be found in the co-authored work of Eva-Riitta Siitonen and Sanna Wirtavuori My family story from the book. Later, as a teenager, Hanna-Riikka was reportedly always worried about what her new boyfriend would say when he noticed her fingers. The “wonderfully perfect” baby girl had an anomaly, a medical abnormality, in her fingers.

“The good news was that the baby’s anomaly was limited to only three fingers. We immediately named the fingers cute diapers, and pampered the little ones twice as much”Eva-Riitta Siitonen says in the book.

The profession united father and daughter. Photo from 2015. Riitta Heiskanen

Hanna-Riikka was born in November 1970.

The doctor warned that one of the girl’s arms might be shorter than the other, but the parents didn’t worry about it and wanted to be confident.

“Fortunately, the girl’s hands grew at a steady pace, and we decided even before school age not to do demanding corrective surgeries.”

“Fingers were not hidden at home, and we tried to encourage Hanna to use both hands naturally. He learned to grip deftly even with his weaker hand, and his hand was enough for an octave when playing the piano.”

Mother Eva-Riitta wove mittens and mittens for Hanna-Riika, one of which was slightly shorter than the other. Even as an adult, Eva-Riitta gave her daughter new made-to-measure gloves every winter.

“The imperfection grew Hanna perhaps more than I realized, and I don’t fully know how much the injury hindered her in everyday life. When she was little, I remember sometimes noticing that the adults would pinch the girl’s fingers with the sandbox, and the little children could wonder about it directly.”

Mother and daughter only talked about the finger anomaly when Hanna-Riikka was an adult.

“While performing, Hanna learned to use both hands so skillfully that hardly many people noticed any difference in them.”

Eva-Riitta Siitonen also assesses in the book that perhaps the anomaly made Hanna-Riika braver and prepared her for the future.

Singer-actress Hanna-Riikka Siitonen, the daughter of former mayor, mayor, city manager and MP Eva-Riitta Siitonen and entertainer Matti Fredi Siitonen, fell ill with thyroid cancer in 2000. She died of the disease in 2018.

Source: Eva-Riitta Siitonen & Sanna Wirtavuori: My family story (WSOY 2024) will be published on October 9, but the book is already on sale in bookstores. The quotes are excerpts from the book.