‘Gonna take a Sentimental Journey…’

With the help of family….I am excitedly piecing together Our Swedish History for a family reunion….. I’ve launched a photo and story swapping exchange…if you will…It has been a sentimental journey thus far…seeing…for the first time…old pictures of Oskar Hjalmar (Jack) and Anna Christina …the Swedish Grandparents I never knew…in the prime of life…and seeing their seven children (my dad included)…in the start of life. I have so many questions…what brought them here…do we share their traits…have their gifts…build….temperament?

For me, this is less about ethnicity and more about connecting to the past…our family’s collective past…in time. The notion that, it’s easier to know where you’re heading… if you know where you’ve been…I want to know…do you?

Years ago, Oprah did an interview with Sidney Poitier…asking if his mother’s love was in great part, responsible for his rise from poverty to prominence…While he acknowledged her contributions, Poitier said, at the moment of conception…the door opens to generations of DNA history…strains from 5, 10…15 generations ago..poised to be passed on. That is why for example…seemingly out of nowhere…comes a child with artistic ability from parents with little or no discernible artisitc talent.

It’s like a game of genetic roulette…with a roll of the dice..the DNA wheel of life spins…in an instant, your future…in great part… takes shape…it just takes a lifetime to see it unfold.

Uncovering our family’s story is made more challenging because the people with all of the answers are no longer here to ask…that…and they changed their name to ‘Hard’ once they got here…and we’re not quite sure what it was before that…so it will take some sleuthing! I’m up to it!

In fact… I am honored to be piecing together the past, with pictures and anecdotes from relatives…putting together photo albums with what we’ve all uncovered and writing it down…shared memories…across time…handed down…yet again. Our family’s version of pictures scribbled on the walls of ancient caves.

It’s funny…when my grandparents immigrated from Sweden around the turn of the century…they wanted their childred to assimilate (as most immigrants did) so they rarely spoke to them in their native tongue….now generations later…with the touch of a pad we are whisked around the world ….and ‘Global’… is the buzz word of the day…I wish my dad had been able to teach me some Swedish…I’ll share what I’ve learned…The journey continues…

Ciao, for now…or should I say…adjo!

Monica