Sweden on Sumi Bear

The Family Business

Sat, 22 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Meet the Fredriksson brothers. Nicholas’s great-great-grandfather Johannes on the left. His older brother Andreas on the right.

Johannes Magnusson Fredriksson. Prisoner No. 5399. Born 1844. Strong build. Several scars.

Andreas Fredriksson Magnusson. Prisoner No. 4778. Born 1842. Dark complexion. Average build. No distinguishing marks.

Yes, those are their prison intake documents. From Långholmen Central Prison in Stockholm, Sweden. Both brothers. Both convicted of fourth-time theft. Both served years.

Dragon Slayers, Maypoles, and Smultron

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The family was celebrating Midsommar. A whole day of activities planned. Apparently my bud didn’t think to pack me. So I got left behind while everyone else went off to see thousand-year-old dragon carvings and dance around a maypole.

I’m not bitter. I’m just documenting.

The Town Where It All Started

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This was the whole reason for the Sweden trip.

Nicholas’s mom’s dad, Papa, was born in Örebro. This was home base. Laxå, a small town nearby, was where Papa’s mom Stina grew up and where her family put down roots. The church. The cemetery. The barbershop Oskar ran after they married. Everything that connected Nicholas’s family to this country was within an hour’s drive of here.

They Served Bear at the Food Tour

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Stockholm was a family thing.

Nicholas’s mom’s dad, Papa, was born in Sweden, and she’d always wanted to bring her kids here to see his country. So the whole crew assembled: Nicholas, Pokin, me, Nicholas’s mom, Anna, and Adam. First time all of them have been in the same country that wasn’t the United States.