By StephanieLee Elliott

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Saint Urho (Finnish: Pyhä Urho [ˈpyhæ ˈurho]) is a fictional saint of Finland, created and elaborated by Finnish Americans in Northern Minnesota in the 1950s, to celebrate their heritage and extend celebrations of Saint Patrick’s Day. His celebration day is set to March 16, the day before the March 17 feast day of Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick’s feast day is celebrated by Irish Americans, of whom there are also many in Minnesota.

THE CREATION

The legend of Saint Urho was the invention of a Finnish American named Richard Mattson, who worked at Ketola’s Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in the spring of 1956. Mattson later recounted that he invented St. Urho when he was questioned by coworker Gene McCavic about the Finns’ lack of a saint like the Irish St. Patrick, whose feat of casting the snakes out of Ireland is remembered on St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, the patron saint of Finland (except for the Orthodox Church of Finland) is the bishop Saint Henry, whose feast day occurs on January 19.

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress and author. She is best known for portraying Lorelai Gilmore on The WB series Gilmore Girls, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, and for playing Sarah Braverman on the NBC drama series Parenthood (2010–2015). She also appeared in the films Sweet November (2001), Bad Santa (2003), The Pacifier (2005), Because I Said So (2007), Evan Almighty (2007), and Max (2015). In 2013, Graham published her debut novel with Ballantine Books, Someday, Someday, Maybe. In 2016, Graham reprised her role on a Gilmore Girls Netflix revival miniseries A Year in the Life and published a memoir, Talking as Fast as I Can.

Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Donna Grant, was a fashion buyer, and her father, Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist who was president of the National Confectioners Association. Graham was raised in her father’s Catholic faith (her maternal grandfather was a Baptist minister); she is of Irish descent. When Graham’s father worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Vietnam, Graham lived for a few years in Japan (her mother also grew up there, as the daughter of a missionary).

Graham was five years old when her parents divorced, and she moved to the Virginia suburbs of the Washington, DC metropolitan area with her father, who became a congressional staffer. Her mother left to pursue a music career and lived in London until her death in 2005, at the age of 61. Graham was raised by her father, and they had a close relationship.

Graham also spent a few of her childhood years in Southampton, New York. Graham has a half-sister and a half-brother from her father’s second marriage. Her British half-sister from her mother’s second marriage, Shade Grant, works at a talent agency.

As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively, but soon switched to acting, honing her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team and graduated in 1984. She earned her actor’s Equity Card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan. Graham went to New York University, then transferred to Barnard College. She graduated from Barnard in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. After moving to Texas in 1992, Graham earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University.

Graham was in a relationship with actor Peter Krause from 2010 to 2021. They first met in 1995 when they both appeared in the sitcom Caroline in the City, then became a couple while co-starring on Parenthood. In June 2022, it was reported that the couple had ended their relationship after 11 years together.

In the mid-1990s, Graham was roommates with actress Connie Britton.

Graham told More that she identified with Catholicism and attends church occasionally.

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