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My father Sanfrid introduced me to the world of genealogy.
ONE DAY AT the age of sixteen, I was walking around with my father on the streets of Visby, the main city on the island of
Gotland. All of a sudden, when we were passing the local genealogy center – the Visby archives – my father proclaimed:
- “Let us go inside and have a talk with my old friend David, who is employed here. He might help us find some more facts
about our roots, the information I do not know about.”
IN WE WENT and said hello to David, or to be more correct, my father said “hello” and I said “good morning”. Swedish
teenagers in the late 1950’s would not, as today, say “hello” to adults or for that matter address them by their first
names. Anyways, David explained that the research about my father’s roots would take time. Several days of research would
be necessary, in spite of all the fact my father already knew about his ancestors from family traditions. My father said
out loud:
- “ How will I get the time?”
WELL, THE MEN'S eyes fell upon me. “What about Kerstin? She certainly has got the time.” That was their conclusion. Hence, I
started researching the facts on my paternal ancestors, in beginning under supervision of “Uncle David”. He is now dead
since long ago, and so is my father, but I am still busy conducting genealogy research, even if my field of research has
broadened quite a bit during the past forty-some years.
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