This 20th installment update submitted by David
Anderson documents the completion of his trip and his primary reason for
this adventure. Thank you David for
taking us along.
25 June, 2014, Wednesday
Mark Twain once wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice,
bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these
accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be
acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's
lifetime.”
I think that Twain’s view of travel in this case is travel
for recreational purposes, not one of necessity. It is not the form of travel undertaken by my
ancestors when they left Sweden and came over to a foreign country in which to
make a new home. It could have been
hunger and the promise of having land on which to grow food that prompted my
grandfather to leave. It could have been
escaping having to continue military service that drove my great-grandfather to
leave Sweden. We don’t totally
know. But travel they did.
Curiosity is a motivating factor in my travels and it has
taken me to far corners, (if there can be corners on a sphere), of the
earth. Curiosity on who my ancestors
were is what drove me to start trying to find out who they were, where they
lived, how they lived, and what they did.
Curiosity of who the people were in the photos that my Great Uncle Eric
had from Sweden has brought some people in to my life who I can call
friends. Curiosity about my Great great
Grandparents from a place (incorrectly) spelled “Gonsapengen” led us to
relatives who are friends.
On the first trip to Sweden in 1985 we didn’t know our
relatives. We largely relied on tourist
brochures to determine what places were of interest to visit. Several years after that first trip the
genealogy bug became a fully fledged bug that fed on my curiosity to find out
more. Local genealogists and historians
gave of their time to answer questions and find our unknown relatives. It was curiosity about my ancestors that led
to us to meet people who are our relatives, and ‘almost relatives’. And it is through all of those people that two
Americans who are half Swedish were able to see and do some amazing things on
an all too short trip out of our “one little corner of the earth.” We were allowed to do some amazing things
that few regular tourists ever get to do on a trip because our friends and
relatives thought we might find something they take for granted of interest, or
they thought we might be interested in seeing some place they knew of that
‘isn’t on the map.’ All I can say is
Tusen Tack, and that doesn’t fully express the appreciation we feel towards
those who opened themselves and their homes for us.
Sweden is more than a country of picturesque scenery of fir
and birch forests and fields full of cute little red houses and red barns, it
is a country, like all other countries, that is full of people who are after
all just like us. If we find out that
people are just like us how can we be full of “prejudice, bigotry and
narrow-mindedness”?
I hope I never run out of curiosity.
Most all of the photos from the trip have now been added to
flickr. Some are being edited and
captions will eventually be put on many.
In the meantime though you can see what has been posted on flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ujelang/
.
David Anderson
Thank you for sharing your wonderful journey. I enjoyed every day of your trip back to your roots.
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