My grandpa always told me that I came from royalty. Both he and my grandma spoke in Swedish fluently. My mother swore off Swedish as a kindergarten child when she was flunked in reading, and that language was reviled. But I was so much different, learning svensk from end to end. Grandma’s friends could talk about me—I could comprehend! However, there was one thing that I couldn’t understand: my grandparents spoke Swedish but were both born in Finland! My grandpa always told his friends that he was a “Swede Finn.” He hoped that all those native Swedes would finally let him in. He didn’t know a word of Finnish, Suomalainen speech, Too many double consonants made learning out of reach! A heavy Oravais accent gave his whole charade away, He’d always be a “Finn Swede,” and that’s how it had to stay! Those royal claims I doubt, although the Swedish speakers ruled the Finnish aristocracy, the churches and the schools. A small ethnic minority, the Finn Swedes have become. a measly five or six percent—still lucky to be one! In the end, it matters little where from which I’ve come, But more important it is, who I am and will become! You decide!
My Finn Swede grandparents, Wendla and Arvid
Haha, that was my grandparents, too! I still have a few relatives in both countries. The Finnish side is multilingual, fortunately.
Beautiful expression of the real.