The Final Chapter

The following day Anna-Lena, and Cathrin, two children and I drove to a living museum that represented Swedish Ostrobothnian communities over 100 years ago and the same period of time when my great-grandparents were growing up in the area.   There were lots of interesting things to learn such as: how children were schooled while the country was occupied by Russia, how they dried bread on poles on the ceiling and reconstituted them months later, that their beds were short so they could half sit-half lie down at night to keep from drowning, and the steep steps in the houses to keep from returning from the dead.  It was interesting to walk through the little village they had set up and see the different homes and trades represented.  I loved it.

We then took a small boat to an island summer home on Kasminet.  I loved the boat ride (even though I was tenuous about going at first)  The area was enchanting with a house on the beach surrounded by forests and flowers…can there be a better combo?  The children rowed around in the boats and ended splashed and played in the water while I gather Baltic Sea sand for my mother.  It was fabulous!

I ended the day with Inger coming and taking me on a trip to see the stone bridges and take a tour of the town of Oravais.  It was a heart-warming adventure.

in the boat with the life jacket that was an actual jacket...felt paddedly stylish and love the greasy hair!!

My final days included visiting a first cousin of my grandmother, Ines, in her home and gardens.  We played with an awesome futbol playing collie, watched the calves (and felt the longing to go and play and pet them)  and looked at family research that I had not yet seen and learn even more about the Lassus side of my family history and the Lassus name.  It was awesome!!

My final day was visiting with Anna-Lena, Ann-Cathrin, their mother, and meeting their brother Kaj and his wife Monica and their children.   We had a delicious dinner and fabulous view from the deck of their beautiful home.  I learned a new game called black maga and was trounced by the seven year old, but that is okay because I beat her in potato on the spoon races.

It was a great end to a whirlwind and magical Finnish history, sights, and friendship trip.  I am grateful for the friendships I have made and the learning I had.  It was difficult to say goodbye and I am still overwhelmed by the hospitality and generous outpouring of acceptance and love that I experienced.  It felt like home, the family felt like my family.  I am glad to be able to meet them all and experience their lives and families.  It is a trip and experience I will never forget and will cherish in my heart forever. <3 span="">.

the family sheep...17 years old

Finne Family in Finland

Now for some experiences with the Finne side of my Finnish ancestry.  (once again I apologize to my Finnish relatives for not being able to write their names correctly because of the unSwedishness of my keyboard, I have none of the letters that are part of the language)   

My great-grandmother Johanna Finne also came over to America, through Ellis Island and joined two of her sisters in the states; Maria and Edla.  Her father was a stonecutter who had built a monument for the battle of 1808, several stone bridges and foundation of houses around the area.  I had been in contact with my Finne relatives for several years, and now was my chance to get to meet them. 

Wilhelm and Sophia Finne

Anna-Lena and her husband Kenneth picked me up and we drove to meet the other Finne decedents.  Eeva’s home (the matriarch of the family, also known as mommo  J  ) was near the stone bridges in Oravais.  Her children Inger, Viveka, Jorgen and Vivian had played around these bridges as they grew.  Eeva mommo and Inger welcomed me warmly and offered up a scrumptious treat.  We had enjoyable conversation and they were able to show me a book about my Finne family that was very interesting, and even though it was all in Swedish I was determined to figure out what it said…I won’t tell you the results of that experiment.  As a whole gang we drove out to Ostero, her home on an island.  We had a great lunch and enjoyed her home and visited “Rebecca” her boat and heard harrowing stories of bandit diaper thieves.  We also visited the area where Viveka takes a short cut to work during the winter by driving over the frozen Baltic Sea.  It was then and there the family decided that I should visit Finland in the winter to #1 drive on a frozen sea (which scares the bejezzers out of me)  #2 See that it does actually get dark in Finland and #3 they would willing line up to push me down a hill to “teach” me to ski.  I can sure make an impression!  Everyone was so generous and a great amount of fun.  We didn't get to spend enough time together, but we will find a way to see each other again. 

Wilhelm's bridges

Ostero

After this wonderful time with the Finne family, I was taken to meet Asa Bjorklund.  She had written the Finne chapter I had read in the book about Oravais families.  Her husband is also a historian of the area and they treated me along with their daughter Catrin, treated me to the sites of interest of the Finne side of my ancestry.  We started off at the war of 1808 monument which I had previously visited.  However, this time I was informed that my great great grandfather Wilhelm Finne was involved in the creation of the monument as the stonecutter.  We also visited the museum with was one the Finne residence, but the house had been moved off the property.  Wilhelm’s name was to be found somewhere in the stones, but they were too covered for us to find it.  However, I did get a personal, after-hours tour of the house/museum from the Bjorkunds.  We saw how they would have lived and what experience the wars were on the community.

house of the Finnes...now a museum

We then went and visited the land where my great grandmother grew up.  The house was not there anymore, but we were able to see pictures of it.  It was a peaceful and picturesque place.  Wilhelm’s stones still stood under the barn and stones he had cut out still rested nearby.  It was a special moment for me, to think about the solid foundations he had built under so many homes, including my own.

what it would have looked like when the children were growing up

Wilhelm's carved stones






The house Johanna my great grandmother grew up in

 The land my great grandmother played and worked on

   roses Johanna would have had

The view from the yard my ancestors had

where my great great grandmother grew up and was her last name...Sophia Seiplax...meaning farm number 9

I was then taken to a summer house of some of my relations from the Finne side that I had not met, and had not known to exist until that moment.  The summer house was as the edge of the Baltic.  The Baltic was stretched out shimmering with silver scales that was breathtaking to gaze at…and which I tended to keep gazing distractedly during the whole meal…but, they were patient with me and realized quickly I was EDBPS (easily distracted by pretty seas).  These relations were a lot of fun and I gave them plenty of fuel for the fire by being a non-coffee drinker and showing up with toothpaste on my feet. (hey…I had 50 Finnish army (mosquito) bites by their  most vicious soldiers…the only thing that helped was toothpaste)  The food and conversation was fantastic.  I had the opportunity to meet Marianna who had written letter, along with her mother, to Johanna and remembered receiving packages from America during the war with shoes and dresses.  She was enthusiastic and loved seeing the pictures and letters I brought.  I wish I could tell you in words my feelings as she made connections and explanations of the pictures I brought and the stories she told, it was very special, very special, tender moment for me.  

the extremely distracting Baltic view

the family!

my ridiculous feet...feel free to mock...but they did swell up a half inch

I went to bed full that night, of a glow and warmth that only those who have searched for answers and finally found them can feel.

Finland part I

I am going to break up Finland into several parts.  For those readers who don't know Finland is the country of one line of my ancestry.  My great-grandparents emigrated to the United States at the turn of the century.  They both came come a part of Finland called Swedish Ostrobothnia.  This part of Finland is located on the west coast of the country on the Baltic Sea.  Finland was a part of Sweden until 1808 when Russia invaded.  Sweden lost the war and Russia took one of the arms, Finland.  Finland remained a part of Russia until after 1918; Finland then was granted independence.  Many of my relatives, well, all that I have met, speak Swedish as their main language and Finnish as a secondary language.  Both my great-grandparents came over for the same reason, to help support their families in Finland, which was currently occupied by Russia.  Many of those who came from Swedish Ostrobothnia ended up working in the mines in America.  My great-grandfather; Eric Albert Lassus as bookkeeper for the mines.  When he passed through Ellis Island his name was changed to Larson.  He worked in different states and after marrying my great-grandmother Johanna Finne they lived in Telluride, Colorado.  They had four children: Linnea, Roy, Agnes and Hazel.  My grandmother is Hazel.  They moved to Phoenix when my grandmother was around four years old because Johanna had crippling arthritis and the doctor recommended it.  After they moved, Albert went back to Colorado to finish up business but became sick and died never seeing his family again.  Their eldest daughter Linnea (whom my mother is named for) died shortly later on Christmas Eve.  Roy began working to support the family as a very young teenager.  Even though they were very poor, they sent packages of food and clothing to Finland to further support the family.  They always were giving back.  I have always been interested in my family roots and the stories that accompany them.  I have been in contact with family members in Finland for many years and when Facebook came along I was able to connect to so many of these family members.  It was an incredible, humbling and extraordinary experience.  I am grateful to all who took time to meet me and tell their stories and share their lives with me.

I was met at the train station in Bennas (I am sorry Finnish relatives, I do not have any of your fancy letters with the dots on my keyboard...so just pretend they are there when I spell different Swedish words )   by Anna-Lena and Ann-Cathrin along with another Anna-Lena and her husband Kenneth.  Their welcome was warm and sincere and made me feel at home in this foreign land.  Anna-Lena had offered me to stay in her home and she, her sister Ann-Cathrin and her mother (my grandmother Hazel’s first cousin) escorted me home and had a wonderful dinner of homemade meatballs, lingon berries, potatoes and sauce waiting for me.  It was a wonderful welcome.  After dinner we took a walk around Anna-Lena’s house and saw a true Finnish countryside complete with fields, flowers, trees and more trees and more trees, lots of red barns, wooden houses.  The Finnish Army attacked (also known as the gigantically, enormous mosquitoes) but we were able to wage war against them them…that time.  We had a lovely walk and the company was delightful.  It is always nerve-racking to go to the home to stay with people you have never met, and in a different country and culture…but, I was welcomed so well and made to feel comfortable and at home.  We returned home and had some Finnish treats including what they call “pig”.  Now I am not always comfortable with new, different foods, but pig I could handle since it was dough that is fried with jam in it covered with sugar.  Ya, no problem.

red wood barns and houses are a beautiful part of the landscape

wooden churches are a beautiful part of the region

churchyard grave monuments for the second world war

Finnish churches have received donations for work for the poor with these traditional  Poor Man Statues:Fattiggubbe...many date to the 16th century 

The next day we visited Jakobstad and went to the Pedersore Kyrka (church).  It is an old stone church originally built in the 1500’s and rebuilt in the 1980’s after a fire.  I had brought a picture of it that my Finnish relatives had sent to my great-grandmother.  Anna-Lena was able to call in a favor and a friend guided us to the top of the steeple.  It was an adventurous hand over hand climb up straight ladders and into the narrow wooden steeple that stood 54 meters high.  The view was incredible and the climb down equally daunting.  It was a very fun and unique experience.  We next drove to Karleby and over the seven bridges.  Fantastic lakes and wooded scenery was to be found.  Anna-Lena and Ann-Cathrin introduced me to Finnish brands and styles at the local shops.  I ended the day with playing angry birds yatzee with Anna-Lena, but I think she let me win. :) and she made me Finnish pancakes for dinner.  Fun day!  But still no darkness (other than the church steeple).

Pedesore Church, I have a picture in black and white that was sent to my great-grandmother 80 years ago...this is the steeple I climbed up and up and up!!

My fancy arrow shows the window opening where I climbed to..

view from the steeple

On Friday, Mid-Summer, we went to Oravais to the graveyard where my great-great-grandparents are buried.  My great grandfather came over to America in 1900 to help support his family.  With me were Anna-Lena, Ann-Cathrin,  their mother and her cousin Birgitta, who is also a first cousin to my grandmother and knew their grandparents well.  It was interesting to be there and see the grave other gravestones with the family names that I have read and researched for so long.  We went up to Oravais church and looked over the land that my family had lived in for so long.  We then traveled to Karvat where my great-grandfather Albert left when he traveled to America.  We visited another cousin of my grandmother, Anna-Lisa at one of her summer homes, which was also her childhood home.  The walls were filled with pictures of my great-grandfather’s family and to my surprise a picture of my mom when she was 17.  We had a wonderful time full of food and stories.  I shared the pictures and letters that I had brought.  I was once again attacked by the Finnish army, and this time they succeeded leaving me with over 100 bites.  We drove down the road to where the farm of my great-great grandparents had been.  The house had been torn down and a new one built, but the yard was lined with rocks that were formally the foundation of the house.  Birgitta shared her memories of where things were when she was living there and the memories that she had of this special place.  The owners of the house shared with us some of the things that were leftover from the old house and were very kind to us. 

my great-grandparents grave marker

It says something along the lines of they are gone and will be missed but not forgotten

my dear cousins at the memorial for the men who dies in the 1808 battle with Russia.  I later found out that my great-grandfather Wilhelm Finne was the stonecutter that created the memorial.

View from the memorial...petty much this beautiful site was what I saw all through Finland

Oravais church, the church my great-grandparents on all sides would have visited

We went to Anna-Lisa’s main summer home on the sea in Kassminni.  It was a wonderful little place filled with summer flowers, birds, boaters and kids playing in the sea.  There was a little old wooden boat house that I also had a picture of that had been sent to my great-grandmother over 80 years ago.  The best find, however, was Linnea flowers.  My mother was named after her mother’s sister Linnea and my sister’s middle name is Lynnea also.  Sheila had wanted pictures of this flower, and here they were.  They are small, shiny, pink bell shaped flowers with a sweet, fresh perfume that filled the air with their sweetness.  It was a very special moment for me.  The sea was lovely and they got me to put my feet in and walk around.  There was a full moon and a beautiful sunset at the same time.  However, that was not the end of my day!  Anna-Lisa told us there was hedgehogs that visited her at her house, so Anna-Lena and Ann-Catherin took me there, because they knew how excited I would be, and I was!  It was so fun to see a hedgehog running around!!

What an amazing day it was!  A Perfect Mid-Summer celebration!

summer flowers

summer home of Anna-Lisa and the childhood home of my grandmothers first cousins

                                         My great-grandparents Erik and Brita Lisa Lassus

Cousins and sisters looking through the memories I brought

Finnish coffee break (though I had chamomile tea)

Erik and Brita Lisa Lassus and daughters

my great-grandparents Albert Erik Lassus and Johanna Finne in the wedding photo mailed to their parents

Albert Erik Lassus

Erik, Brita Lisa Lassus and daughters...the child is Birgitta

piece of farming equipment left over from the Lassus farm

the Lassus farm

 We celebrated Mid-summer at Kastminne at a summer home.  It was a beautiful view and a happy place to be.  We relaxed, walked in the water and enjoyed the sights and atmosphere.

the view of the sea from Kassmini

Linnea flowers.  My mother was named after these flowers.  They have a sweet fragrance and the small, pink bells dotted the landscape were intoxicating. 

sauna...everyone wanted me to try one...but as I told them..."that is called Arizona in July"

super moon in mid summer

hedgehogs!!!

Saturday we headed out to an island called Tankar.  We took the ferry out on a blustery Baltic Sea.  The island was a fishing area where men and their families would spend their summer fishing and living to make their living.  A lighthouse was also built there in the 1800’s.  Ann-Cathrin invited a friend Eva, to guide me on the island.  She was an amazing guide and we all learned so much.  She may have started off warning me about ticks, and so I was wary, but still enjoyed.  The landscape was much like Lapland we were informed.  It was rather rugged and wild.  There was thick shrubbery and big rocks to climb over.  We saw the old wooden fish houses, and church.  On the benches the people had carved their signs since they didn’t know how to write, to reserve their seating.  I wonder if my dad has carved our name in the bench we always sit at at church…hmmm…The weather was perfect while we were there, which is a blessing.  It is amazing to see how other people live and work in other parts of the world.  We take so much for granted in America.  Even some of the poorest among us have essentials that others see as luxuries, yet we see fit to constantly complain, way more than I have seen and heard elsewhere.  It was a great experience to be in a place and see there that make me remember, that we can do so much more with so much less.  

That evening we had our Mid-summer dinner a day late.  It consisted of new potatoes dipped in butter, chives and potato water, pickled fish, smoked fish, eggs with Swedish caviar and strawberries for dessert.  Even though some of those things were really out in left field, I gave it a chance and my relatives were very, very patient and kind to me about it and since they knew I loved meatballs, they threw those in also even though they aren't traditionally a Mid-Summer meal (but since I had been eating them for breakfast I guess they figured they would keep 'em coming).  I also wrote down the recipe as it as being made so I could attempt to replicate this treat at home.  

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On Sunday I had the opportunity to meet many of my grandmother's first cousins on the Lassus side of the family.  I shared pictures and letters that had been sent to my great-grandparents and they shared pictures with me of times that were past.  It was a wonderful experience to see how much they loved Finland and they experiences that they had had and their willingness to share those with me.