They had spent a couple of lovely summers at “Strömsborgs Vilohem*” when time came for Dagny and Robert to once again set out to China to fulfill their obligation as missionaries in the year of 1912. This time was to be quite different in one deciding way. Four of their children were too old to... Continue Reading →
Researching family history is interesting in many ways. Aside from understanding more about where you come from, you can connect with present-day relatives that you might not even have known existed. This has happened to me on a few occasions since I started researching and writing about my geneaology findings, and is also a big... Continue Reading →
Today, students all over Sweden, get to wear their student hats for the first time. In Sweden we call it "mösspåtagning," and it's a sure sign spring is here. Tomorrow, we celebrate Walpurgis night/Valborgsmässoafton, and all the bonfires will have choirs wearing their student hats, singing to welcome spring. Looking back to the beginning of... Continue Reading →
We are many who have lost loved ones the past years. Coping with grief is part of life and something we all go through at one point or another, always hoping it will be later, rather than sooner. Through the years I have written a few obituaries. It has always felt a bit strange, trying to... Continue Reading →
What we are experiencing in Europe today is on everyone's mind. No one knows how this will end, how many lifes will be affected or what will happen to our world. WWII is not that far away in the past, and even though my own generation did not have to live through it, our parents... Continue Reading →
As we're finally leaving the dark, cold and poor January behind us in Scandinavia, the Chinese are about to enter their big festivity of the New Year. In 2022 the year of the Tiger starts on the 1st of February. In 1905, the newly baked missionary Olga spent her first Chinese New Year celebrating the... Continue Reading →
... and I have not been writing or researching for such a long time. This autumn has been pretty intense. I have had to make some priority changes - mainly focusing on seeing friends and family when I have not been travelling with work. We've had a short window of social possibilities in Sweden, which... Continue Reading →
This year, September is a month of celebration in Sweden. A hundred years ago women could finally vote in the Swedish election of 1921. On the 17th of December 1918, the Swedish parliament decided in favour of voting rights for both men and women. This was the first procedural decision that paved the way for... Continue Reading →
During my research into the history of my missionary relatives, I have found a few telegrams. Whenever there was a need for speedy information and one didn’t trust the postal service to deliver in time, the solution was to send a telegram. Letters could take a month to arrive from Europe to China – sometimes... Continue Reading →
I noticed that I often refer to my grandparents' and their parents' different experiences with the dangerous robber bands that were an inevitable part of travelling in China back in the days. The stories of how my relatives met and escaped different robbers have been part of a narrative that's been following me throughout my... Continue Reading →
About what one might think is lost forever can turn up most unexpectedly - and perhaps even better.
The discovery of a rare photograph of my great grandmother playing in the snow.
Since I have been looking into my family history and reading letters from the past, I have become increasingly interested in the context my relatives lived in. They were born in the 19th century and passed into the 20th, with everything that happened and was invented at the time. Just as I find it hard... Continue Reading →
A story about family geneaology research, a wedding picture and how a braid was a determining factor in my familys' continutiy.
Reading letters from my great grandmother I slowly unveil her history and piece together the puzzle that is our familys' legacy
Going for what you want out of life is not always easy, but it all comes down to taking those first steps and overcoming your fears. Olga, is an example of that.
A reflection on how getting to know your family history can make you feel more connected to your relatives and where you come from. I just received a book I ordered. It's a pretty old book - printed in 1921. I got a tip from a newly found relative that there was a story about... Continue Reading →
Thérèse Amnéus 