Hi, I'm Ulla Birgitta - though everyone calls me Bibbi - an almost seventy year old disabled Swedish mom, grandmom and great grandmom living with my English born husband in a small town near Stockholm in Sweden. I have three children, two daughters and a son, twenty, yes twenty grandchildren age from 20 to two months - including my son's eight adopted children and three great grandchildren: one age four and twins age three months. I’ve been a wheelchair user for over 47 years after I became ill with a severe strep infection that led to sepsis leaving me a quadruple amputee and legally blind. I’m an avid traveler and have visited many countries all over the world. Hope to make some new friends here and exchange views and thoughts on different topics.
Welcome! That's quite the family you have there. My paternal grandfather came to the US from the Varberg area in Sweden (Lindberg parish) in 1877. Do you know where that is? My grandmother's side came from Håbol, Västra Götaland. I have a lot of relatives in Sweden although I'll never meet them. So far, my tree goes back to the 1400s.
Hi and thanks for the welcome. Yes I do have a big family - long story. I know Varberg, it’s on the west coast sbout 50 miles south of the city of Gothenburg. That’s quite a family tree you have. Did you research it all yourself? My tree is small by comparison. Have you researched the Swedish side?
Welcome to the forum, @Bibbi Wright. Although it will take a while to meet all the people here, you are welcome.
Hi Bibbi from Mary of Wisconsin.. I will not make it to Sweden but I have been to New Glarus, Wisconsin several times. It is a lovely town that drew Swedish immigrants. I can't even imagine how families came across in those days, before planes and motor vehicles. Sometimes they were split up waiting for other members to get enough money etc together to make the journey. How they could even find such a small place nestled in a very hilly area. But it is said, it reminded them of home. Welcome to the group!
My grandparents on both sides were born in Sweden, and I think my father came here when he was three. I say that I think that was the case because he enjoyed lying to us, so we never knew whether he was telling us the truth or not. He cheated at Monopoly too, but that's another matter. He repeatedly said that he had quit school after the third grade but my mom insists that he completed high school, and he also told us that he learned to speak English in the Army, but I'm thinking that if he came here at the age of three, he probably spoke English before he enlisted. I do know that all four of my grandparents were born in Sweden, however.
Welcome Bibbi----So glad you could join us. I look forward to your participation. Question-- How do you handle your world travel with your disability?
Welcome Bibbi. It's nice to see a fresh face with a perspective on things as seen from a different country. I'm from Pennsylvania, USA.
Welcome from Virginia, Bibbi. You'll enjoy yourself here. I've mentioned before that my lineage is German & British.
A woman I know did it all; her and her husband are good friends of mine -- she's been doing it since before the internet was invented. Not surprisingly, it's much easier and faster to do it nowadays. I should have mentioned that it is my Swedish side (Dad's) that goes back to the 1400s. My mother's family came here from England in the 1600s, and my tree from her side goes back to around 1050 AD in England. I had a DNA test done a couple of years ago, and as more people do it they update the existing results. I was 50% Scandinavian on my dad's side plus 19% on my mom's -- the Vikings did their thing in England, lol. Newest update puts me at 88% Scandinavian.
Hi everyone and thanks for your welcome messages. About your question @Lon Tanner about how I travel the world with my disability, maybe I could start a thread called Traveling with a disability. I could explain my disabilities and how I manage and I guess I’m not the only person here with a disability who travels so other members could give their input too. What do you all think?
@Bibbi Wright Welcome to our group! Your avatar is beautiful! As our Wisconsin residents know, many Swedish folks chose to live there as well as in Minnesota, possibly because the weather parallels that in Sweden! You were a young woman when afflicted with sepsis. That is one of my fears, as I have two tubes protruding from my chest to connect kidney dialysis equipment. It is not known what caused my kidney failure, I would not even think of a transplant; sepsis is a present danger. My wife and I would very much like to travel, too, but fear the stringency of continuing dialysis in strange places. I would love to see your beautiful country! Frank
@Frank Sanoica Thanks for the welcome. My avatar is a wedding photo taken just a couple of months before I became ill. I can understand your anxiety about sepsis, it can be fatal. I guess I was lucky it ”only” cost me my arms, legs and sight. Yes Sweden is a beautiful country
Hi @Mary Stetler and thanks for the link but I think you’ve got things mixed up between the two European countries Switzerland and Sweden. New Glarus is a town that appears to have Swiss (as in from Switzerland) as opposed to Swedish (as in from Sweden) connections.