Our Roots

Downtown KarlshamHotel of Hope

Karlsham the first port where Immigrants left from Sweden. They erected a statue there to commerate and remember those who left to see a new life. It sits on the Baltic Sea!


An original Swedish cottage Viking Rune Stone
As some of you know My mom's dream has always been to find her roots. Her grandmother Jennie Banera Willberg immigrated with her family from Sweden in the late 1800"s. One of her goals while over here was to go to Sweden and find the town they came from and see where they lived. The only thing we had to go on was a picture of Jennie as a baby taken in Christianstaad Sweden in Skane region. I started doing some research and with the help of a great friend and the Library I found some emails from a family in Sweden looking for family of Jennie. I contacted her and spent two weeks emailing her back and forth and getting info for our trip. Near the time we were leaving her family invited us to stay with them and show us around the area. We had a great time and got to see the city they left from. The hotel of hope is the place immigrants stayed in while waiting for passage. It is really cool to find out we descend from Swedish Vikings and sailors. Maybe that explains the Wanderlust I have as well as my mother. We learned a great deal and I am now embarking on tracing my roots with passion. I dont want my kids to wonder where they are from and have no one left to ask like I do.