Home ‘Swede Home

By Sharnessa Sandén

Sam, my husband, and I met in London nearly 11 years ago. He hailed from Sweden, and I from the US of A. We knew from the get-go that we wanted to raise our future kids with the Swedish and English languages, as well as the richness of Swedish and American traditions and influences…knowing and being connected to their full heritage.

After moving 8 years ago from England to my hometown of Longview, we knew regular trips to their Daddy’s (or “Pappa’s” in Swedish) homeland would be included in the “future kids” picture, to keep their Swedish heritage very much alive and cherished.

Shortly after our first son arrived, at 10 months old, we flew to beautiful Sweden for his first trip. He was a dream on the flight, stayed on his napping schedule (yes! On the flight!!), and we had loads of people tell us what an amazing baby he was. As well, there were a handful of folks who played with or held him (with us right there, of course! ;^D) to help ease the 10-hour, non-stop flight to Amsterdam - a lovely “grandpa” from Italy, a sweet “grandma” from Iraq, and many others who were on the flight as well.

Our visit with our “Svenska Familj” was lovely…Chase connected beautifully with our many relatives and friends, adapting to the 9-hour time difference, etc…our little Swedish-American boy charmed ‘em all. (And I’m not just biased, here!)

We drove to visit friends in Norway (about 5 hours away), and Chase was a gem on that journey as well! It was definitely as lovely as we’d hoped it would be.

Two and a half years later – this last Christmas - we made another cross-Atlantic trek, this time with two sons in tow, now 3 1/2 and one! My sister and her boyfriend came as well, and were amazing to have with us! After a 10-hour flight from Portland to Amsterdam, we had an 10-hour layover before heading to Gothenburg.

So, although exhausted, we decided make the most of the layover, and trekked via train and bus to the heart of Amsterdam. We were headed to the one “landmark” that my jet-lagged brain could remember - the home of Anne Frank.

That was an experience of a lifetime. The home is in the exact state that it was back in 1942…even the famous bookcase is still there. What an overwhelming experience to walk through that to the secret annex that just 67 short years ago was the means of keeping precious lives spared from certain jeopardy.

It was an overwhelming, sobering tour that I would highly recommend to anyone – well-worth the wait in the crisp, winter air, schlepping along over-stuffed backpacks and purses, not to mention two zonked-out baby boys.

Finally, in Sweden, we enjoyed a beautiful Swedish Christmas holiday with our Euro-side family, with loads of wonderful Swedish traditions experienced yet again. Our visit was sweet, a time to connect with our loved ones abroad, time for our little ones to touch some of their roots.

It was a success, no doubt. Not only were more precious memories made, relationships strengthened and sweetened, and our precious boys connected more and more to their Swedish loved ones and heritage…but there was another richness that was imparted - in that tall, slender home on the narrow canals of Amsterdam Holland - that was a very real, very overwhelming, very sobering reminder that our freedom is truly a gift…one that must be cherished and fought for.

A reminder that our freedom isn’t free…that we are a blessed people, a blessed nation. And even more so, that out of that beautiful freedom we are blessed to bless others DAILY.

So while this mamma and pappa, who as newlyweds oh-so long ago, were desiring and setting out to keep alive for their future children the realization of their rich heritage and blessings in their lives, our “Pappa” had the same thing in mind for us…

Sharnessa and her husband, Sam, are the Youth Pastors at Fathers House Church in Longview and also run the Fresh Attitude Dance Studio, teaching hip-hop and lyrical dance. They can be reached at
www.freshattitude.com or call the church: (360) 423-7826.