My First Trip to Sweden (Day 4)

Monday morning started with photography. Since it had been raining most of Sunday, I wanted to return to the Hanhals church with my camera. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day. After taking pictures of the church and surrounding cemetery, I retraced the route that Roger Herbertsson had taken me on the previous Friday and spent time documenting those locations with my camera.

Before leaving the United States, I had learned from the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) that Swedish parents desiring to teach their children at home were having their rights taken from them by the Swedish government. As a result, I had contacted the national Swedish organization for homeschooling (Rohus). Mrs. Caroline Olsson, a member of the Rohus board, had agreed to meet with me to discuss the current state of homeschooling in Sweden. I wanted to hear about the challenges first hand and understand how home educators in America could help, especially those of Swedish decent. Mrs. Olsson and I met at the café of the Kungsbacka bus and rail station. We had a delightful conversation which I will describe at a later time.

After my meeting with Mrs. Olsson, I drove back to Hilmersgården where I met two new cousins for the first time, Anna and Lena Larsson. Anna and Lena drove me about 30 minutes south to Veddige where I would spend the day with their family. Anna and Lena’s mother (Elvy Helgesson Larsson), their aunt (Alice Helgesson) and their uncle (Ingvar Helgesson) are all descendents of Olof Martin Johansson (Andrew Peter Johansson’s brother).

Both the Larsson and Helgesson families are flower farmers and have large green houses for cultivating the beautiful blossoms that are present everywhere in Sweden.

After a relaxing lunch on the Larsson’s covered patio, Alice Helgesson gave me two CD-ROMs full of old photographs and documents she had so graciously scanned for me. After she had explained each photograph, Alice was interested in seeing how I entered the information online. We logged on to ancestry.com and uploaded some of the pictures that she had given me.

Alice had also provided some old letters that had been sent from the United States, by Anders Frijof Olsson, to the relatives in Sweden. As I typed, Anna verbally translated the old letters from Swedish into English.

Not long after, we all headed over to Invar Helgesson’s house for an amazing dinner of grilled steak and pork along with some tasty side dishes Ingvar's wife Monika had prepared. After dinner, we took a few pictures of Ingvar’s farm and greenhouses. Afterword, I had a chance to talk to Ingvar’s two daughters, Malin and Emma, while enjoying fresh berries, ice cream and coffee.

As the night drew to a close, Anna and Lena drove me back to Hilmersgården so I could get rested for the big day tomorrow…touring Gothenberg.