Family Reunion

Family Reunion

On my solo trip on Barney in 2004, my goal for coming north was just to see where Helmer had come from – I wasn’t expecting much in the way of meeting people, especially since I then had absolutely no idea about the size of the family and only had those two email addresses – I thought I’d be there a few days, see the house, meet the family at the other email address and be on my way. I was thus completely blown away by the hospitality I received on that trip and the wonderfully nice people that I was related to – I ended up being there almost two weeks and meeting many wonderful people I happen to be related to some generations back.

The house - my picture from 2004
The house where Helmer was born – my picture from 2004 – I didn’t stop there this trip
Helmer and his parents
Helmer and his parents
The family tree to my mother and aunt's level - my generation isn't on it
The family tree – each of Helmer’s siblings is a branch – it goes to my mother and aunt’s level – my generation mostly isn’t on it since it was done in 1968. As I counted in 2004, my grandfather had 44 cousins on this side, and my mother has 134 second cousins. Everyone we met knows where they are on this tree.

So the folks who came to meet us at the train station close to midnight were well known to me, even if not yet to the others: Birgit – who I’d stayed with on my previous trip and who came to pick up my mother and aunt, who were staying with her now, and Hans – who I’d also hung out with several times in 2004 and who was giving my family a ride in his old Mercedes limousine, one of his 37 older vehicles.

Hans drove us to Malin’s, where we were staying, in the not really ever dark of the Northern Swedish summer night. For reference, Umeå’s latitude is between that of Yellowknife and Iqaluit, but it’s warmer because of the Gulf Stream. It doesn’t really ever get dark in the summer, which means day-night rhythms get kinda flexible. After a quick chat, we bedded down in the caravan, our home for the next few nights .

IMG_8582
The view from the porch
IMG_8579
They also have a collection of old cars including this beauty

The next morning, K and I went a hay ride with Malin and her kids and yet another cousin, who is very interested in keeping old ways alive – including by teaching Swedish folk dancing and by taking in the hay the old fashioned way.

P1140837

P1140840

Moving the hay to the hayloft
Moving the hay to the hayloft
And the kids had to climb the trees
And the kids had to climb the trees

And when we got back, the vehicle we could use for our stay had arrived, thanks to Hans – a different Mercedes limousine (a 1979). We quickly headed off for a delicious lunch with Monika, another relative. We all then piled into the limousine to see the local church and chapel – the chapel is especially lovely with the view of the lake behind the lectern.

(my mum's photo)
(my mum’s photo)
P1140856
This is a newer church that replaced the church Helmer would have gone to
P1140862
The belfry from the old church
P1140865
Quintessential Sweden

P1140870

After the tour, Monika had organized a huge family fika, just with the family that lives in one of the several little communities around the lake. There’s a tendency for people to build new houses near their parents and siblings, so many of the people there were actually cousins of some degree.

P1140876

P1140877

A super yummy cake
A super yummy cake

Another version of this family photo actually made the regional newspaper.

P1140882

The next day we had a lovely lunch with my fellow planner Mårten and his wife.

P1140885

We then took the limousine up roads it wasn’t meant for to go for a hike with Birgit and her family to a lovely lookout over a lake. We were introduced to Swedish blueberries that grow everywhere in the forest and are quite tasty.

P1140891

P1140901

Blueberries! (my mum's photo)
Blueberries! (my mum’s photo)
(my mum's photo)
(my mum’s photo)
Cooling feet at the end of the hike - it was quite a warm day
Cooling feet at the end of the hike – it was quite a warm day

P1140905

The limo in the woods
The limo in the woods

In the evening we had another big party, this time organized by Hans – or more properly, conceived of by Hans and organized by his super wife Anna. Lots more relatives came out for a hamburger dinner by another lake, complete with boxes of old photographs and catching up between many of these groups as well. It’s quite amazing to see just how many cousins there are! I was too busy talking to people – both those I’d met in 2004 and those new to me – to take many pictures.

P1140908

P1140909

P1140914

Wednesday, Ivo and I headed into Umeå to take care of something – and let me just say that parking a limousine in a normal parking spot is a bit of a challenge – then came back out for a fika with Mårten – his sister lives in the States and was meant to join us for lunch the previous day but her flight had been delayed. We had a nice time meeting her and hearing about the plans for building and publicizing a 22 km ice skating path around the lake in the winter – they’re hoping for Dutch tourists who haven’t been able to skate on our canals for any distance for a while! They’re also going to be renting a lovely apartment out on AirBnB for those tourists – if anyone’s interested, let me know and I’ll connect you!

In the evening the six of our family went into Umeå and had dinner at Max Burger, intrigued by the promise of not just one veggie burger, but a whole veggie burger menu, with five different options. It worked out that we tried all of them in our group, and they were all good. I was most partial to the veggie BBQ sandwich, which was just plain good and I’m still craving another one. In fact, the cashier who helped us (she had the best English), said she wasn’t even vegetarian and still had one every night. That’s what we need to see with veggie food – food so good not only vegetarians want it. We’re now planning another trip to Sweden just so we can go there again.

P1140921
Welcome vegetarians!
P1140923
The options advertised prominently on the left – “Good and Sustainable Alternative”

We then wandered around central Umeå for a bit and ran into Hans and his family as well! They’d already spotted the parked limousine so knew vaguely where we were.

P1140926
The river in Umeå – this is 8 pm
P1140930
Our kids and Hans’ kids clambering on this sculpture

Sunset goes on for a long time in the North – now it’s almost 10 pm.

P1140933

P1140934

Thursday was Mum’s last day before heading back to Stockholm in the evening to catch her cruise on Friday. We hung out in the lake during the day with Malin and her family.

IMG_8585

IMG_8590

DSCN0142

Then while I took my Mum to the airport (with my aunt), K got to try one of her life-long dreams, thanks to the incredible kindness of Anna – she got to ride a horse! Apparently she’s a natural, so this is something we may have to look into later. L also tried, but wasn’t so impressed.

P1140937

P1140940

P1140942

IMG_8615

IMG_8617

Then another delicious dinner with Mikael and his family at their incredible house (that Mikael also built). Their daughter was a big hit with our kids, as were her dogs!

P1140943

P1140948

In these evenings I also started hearing about other stories of people who had gone to America but had come back, for one reason or another – the one who came back on a visit and got someone in a family way and so couldn’t go back to Canada and a possible love waiting there, or the sad story of a husband who died in the logging camps in Washington and the widow who came back to Sweden, leaving one of the young daughters behind by herself. We think of emigration as a one way street – in North America we think of it as the last step in reaching for a better life, reaching the American (Canadian?) dream – but we don’t think about the idea that not everyone stays or that not everyone finds their dream there.

On Friday, our last day, we headed out to the coast to see Jens and his family and to have lunch at the golf club before heading down to the beach. The water was bath temperature and we took advantage to go for a swim while catching up with Jens’ daughters, who I’d met in Stockholm 12 years ago, and who were now of course married with their own kids. A lot changes in 12 years, but both of the girls are still as I remember them.

IMG_8595

P1140952

After that, some ice cream with Birgit and family and a visit with the sheep.

IMG_8599

Finally, a lovely cookout dinner by the lake with Malin and her family, including roasting marshmallows and trying to see a beaver. Well, L and the older girls had seen it and we tried to go back later, but no luck, except a lovely view.

P1140955

P1140958

P1140962

P1140979

P1140980

P1140981

Saturday morning we were driven to the ferry by Hans in our favourite limousine, and we boarded for the next phase of our adventure, replete with the wonderful food, hospitality and friendship we’d enjoyed during our stay.

IMG_8613

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.