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When I was a little girl,
my Swedish grandpa taught me a little poem, and this is how it went: "I asked my mother for fifty cents, to see the elephant yump the fence. He yumped so high, he touched the sky, and never came back 'til the 4th of Yuly."
That is how he said it, and that is how I said it. It wasn't until I was older that I learned that those were really words that began with the letter "j" and other people said those words differently. To me, that's how it was supposed to be!
When I got older, I wanted to know more about my Swedish grandpa.... after all, I was one-quarter Swedish.... but he had passed away when I was in my 20's. My dad didn't seem to know much either, except that Grandpa had come to America as a young man and that he had changed his name.
He had a few pictures that were taken in Sweden, but we couldn't read the writing on the back and didn't know who they were. His last name in Sweden was Jansson, but he had changed it to Lind. Since he had changed his last name, I thought perhaps he had changed his other names as well.
I tried to search places that I knew about, such as the records of Ellis Island, but I found a lot of "Janssons" and just didn't know which one might have been Grandpa. I did, however, know his date and place of birth.
One day, I somehow came across Yvonne's website. I didn't contact her right away. Finally, I kept thinking about her and decided to send her an inquiry. I told her my Grandpa's name, and gave her what information I had.
Within one day, I received a reply from Yvonne. She had found my Grandpa! I now know many generations of my Swedish family, and am even in contact with a living relative, the granddaughter of my Grandpa's brother.... all this is thanks to Yvonne and Swedenroots.
She was the answer to one of my heart's desires (and my sister's too), to know about my Swedish family. I only wish I had found her while my father was still alive. But, perhaps he is watching, and knows too.
If you are looking for information about your Swedish family, I strongly recommend that you contact Yvonne! She loves helping people!
Donna Lind DuBois, Equinunk, Pennsylvania, USA |