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(L to R) Kai Toivonen, Glenn Farnham,
Jessica Barker, Britt Barker, Audrie Washburn, Sara
Sundstrum, Monica Fagerlund, Jonna Fagerlund, Jessica
Sundstrum, Blake Barker, and Elin Sundstrum.
By Ernie Smothers
smothers@mckenziebanner.com |
McKenzie (July 20) Nestled in the spacious and
comfortable living room of her home located in the Holly
Hills Subdivision, Britt Barker sat oblivious to the
scorching mid-90-degree heat outside. Smiling and
attentive, she focused intently on conversations being
shared by her brother Glenn, Glenn's cousin, Monica, and
members of Monica's family. Far beyond a typical family
reunion, this get-together provided yet another amazing
opportunity for Britt to learn more about a part of her
family, that, until recently, she did not know existed.
Background
In 1952, Britt's biological mother, Solveig Fagerlund,
then a 20-year-old native of Stockholm, Sweden traveled
to America to fulfill a two-year contractual commitment
she had signed to work as an au pair for a family in
California. Shortly after arriving, Solveig met and fell
in love with a military serviceman who was home on leave
from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
After the serviceman had left to return to duty, Solveig
discovered that she had become pregnant with their
child. Traveling from California to Fort Campbell,
Solveig found the soldier and happily informed him that
he was the father of her child. Unexpectedly, the man
she thought was in love with her stated that his
ambition to advance in the military prohibited his
marrying and settling down.
Disheartened, Solveig moved to Nashville, residing at
the Florence Crittenden Home for Unwed Mothers until
giving birth to her daughter on November 4, 1954.
Solveig, in the last act of love she was allowed, named
the newborn Linda Suzanne. Shortly thereafter, Raymond
and Anne Smith of Dresden adopted the infant, renaming
her Anne Britt.
Solveig, fearful of scandalous repercussions that might
be levied against her family in Sweden should her
pregnancy be known, chose to never mention her
American-born child.
Years later, Solveig met and married electronical
engineer Bob Farnham of New Jersey, settling into the
area. In 1961, the couple became parents to their first
child together, Glenn.
Moving back to Sweden with her husband and son in 1974,
Solveig remained silent about her American-born daughter
until her death five years later at age 47.
Piecing the Puzzle
Growing up in Dresden, Britt yearned to know as much as
possible about her biological parents. Finally, At 32,
she began the compelling and arduous task of searching
for her origin.
Informed by her adoptive parents that her mother was
Swedish, Britt's research led her to discover that the
Lutheran Church was the predominant religion in Sweden.
Enlisting the aid of a Lutheran minister in Paris, Britt
began placing newspaper ads in publications where it was
believed her biological mother might have resided. The
original search, however, was fruitless. Discouraged but
undaunted, Britt's quest for discovery was kept alive by
the knowledge that once impenetrable rules protecting
against disclosure of adoption birth record information
were becoming more accessible due to dramatic changes in
legal legislation. Finally, in the year 2000,
legislation provided that all birth records be fully
opened, with the birth parents and other family members
retaining the right to impose veto should they wish not
to be contacted.
Armed with new tools, Britt signed a legal document
agreeing not to make contact with any potential family
member and allow the Department of Human Services
personnel to solely pursue the contacting process.
Despite the opening of the records, another year and a
half had transpired before Deidre Young, a Department of
Human Services worker in Nashville, discovered long
hidden pieces of Britt's past.
Discovery
Following leads, Young discovered that Solveig had met
and married Farnham and settled in New Jersey. From
there, she made contact with Glenn's cousin who resided
in upstate New York, who provided her with a name and
e-mail address. Contacting Glenn by E-mail, Young
advised that a woman in Tennessee was eager to get in
touch with him and that he could contact her should he
desire more information. Glenn, an employee of Ericsson
Microelectronics Company of Sweden, responded by
requesting to know what Young had meant by the message.
In short order, Young revealed to Glenn that his mother
had given birth to a daughter in Tennessee in 1954.
Glenn, ecstatically informed Young that he wished to
dismiss the protective veto and obtain all information
necessary to contact Britt. At long last, a brother and
sister, having grown up half a world apart and unaware
of the others existence, were united.
Glenn recalled, "I sent flowers to her immediately and
flew to America as soon as possible to see her. I came
here five times the first year. I feel like I'm home now
when I visit. I've flown to visit her and her family at
least 15 times since that initial trip four years ago."
Now
Sitting on the arm of the living room couch, Glenn spoke
of Britt, "She is so great. We talk to each other a lot
and I share with her all of my feelings. Without being
too cliché, Britt was heaven sent to me." He continued,
"I never had brothers and sisters growing up. Even
though it's late in coming, I'm glad we found each
other." Britt responded, "Glenn is the greatest brother.
He truly is a dream come true."
Glenn's cousin Monica, sitting on the couch beside him,
smiled as she stated how pleased she was too finally
visit the United States. She said, "It has been my hope
to come here for such a long time, and it's like a dream
now that we are here." A resident of Gothenburg, Sweden,
Monica is joined by fiancée Kai Toivonen, and daughters
Sara Sundstrum (19), Jessica Sundstrum (17), Elin
Sundstrum (14), and Jonna Fagerlund (8).
Monica, impressed with the friendliness of the people
she had met, said, "It is neat that strangers here will
strike up conversations with you." Glenn added, "People
here are easier to talk to and polite-very open. People
in our country are a bit more reserved and quieter. We
take it as it is." He added, "But, I appreciate the
differences in the people here."
Glenn noted that Monica and her family had arrived first
to McKenzie. He said, "They had a lay-over in Newark
before flying into Memphis. I took an extra flight from
Memphis to Paducah."
Visiting for a two-week stay, Glenn informed that the
group had already visited Pigeon Forge and took in the
sights of East Tennessee, including Dolly wood and
Splash Country. "Britt loves the mountains-they are
close to Britt's heart. Her biological father was
Cherokee Indian, and she is interested in learning more
about the Indian culture. It was my third trip to the
mountains with her." Glenn added that the group had also
traveled to Graceland in Memphis, home of music legend
Elvis Presley.
The King
Monica stated, "The trip to Graceland was very special
to me. My father, who has been dead for eight years, was
a fan of Elvis' music. Emotionally, she continued, "I
felt my father’s spirit around me very strongly while we
were there. Our going to Graceland was really kind of
like doing something for him. He would have wanted to
have gone there when he was alive." Monica's fiancée,
Kai, speaking through translation by Glenn, said, "In
Sweden, Elvis was just Elvis. But after visiting
Graceland, I found him to be larger. Smiling, Kai raised
his hands and added, "He is the king!" as the group
began to laugh. Monica's daughter stated that although
she had enjoyed visiting Graceland, she thought it would
have been a bigger home.
Glenn noted that although he enjoyed visiting
tourist-related areas, he was more interested in being
around authentic environments. He added, "Britt was
afraid that we would be bored in McKenzie, but we have
enjoyed it very much." Jessica agreed, adding, "I am
really enjoying relaxing and resting here after
traveling so much. Also, Visiting in someone's home and
experiencing their lifestyle is so much better than
having the same old hotel experience. This is great."
Jessica, an avid traveler, had only been home for a week
and a half before departing for the United States. She
said, "I had taken a boat trip to Australia and then to
Africa. The trip to Africa was long-we spent a month out
at sea." She continued, "I really enjoyed my time in
South Africa. The people were so kind-truly amazing
people." Jessica added, "When I returned home, I didn't
want stop traveling. You just want to keep going and see
more."
For Sara and Jessica, the trip to Wal-Mart was
incredible. Sara said, "There were so many things in one
place-food, clothing, shoes and cool air conditioning.
The prices were cheaper and there was a much better
selection of things to choose from. Jessica added, "In
Sweden, we don't have everything in one shop. You go to
one place for shoes, another for clothes. Glenn,
laughing, added, "We couldn't get them out of there-they
loved it!"
For Spacious Skies
Monica noted that she was surprised at the beauty of
America's great outdoors. "The outdoors here provides a
scenic view and the nature we saw was impressive
too-much like our country." Kai added, "We have four
proper seasons in Sweden. Winter is five months long and
very cold. It gets dark at 3 p.m." Jessica said, "Autumn
is beautiful there-lots of color. During the summer, it
is still a bit light outside even late at night." Glenn
added, "It rarely reaches 80 degrees in temperature in
Sweden." Smiling, he said, "Monica and her family live
in the largest city on the West Coast. I live in the
largest city in the east. They talk funny over there."
Sara said that she thought it was incredible to have
friends living in America and to be able to travel here
to visit. Britt responded, "I hope the girls can come
back and visit-maybe go to school for a year over here."
The girls, leaning forward in their seats, replied that
they would love to have the opportunity to do so. Sara
smilingly added, "We like it here. It's a very nice
country."
Both girls expressed their enjoyment in listening to
hip-hop and rap. Jessica added, "We like the kind of
music played on MTV." She noted that she also enjoyed
country music, especially Dolly Pardon. Monica stated
that her favorite artist was Elton John. Kai added, "I
like jazz and Kenny Loggins. I also enjoy listening to
Indian tribal music CDs."
Monica, Sara and Jessica stated that they looked forward
to describing their visit to America to their friends.
Monica said, "We will show them our photographs and tell
them about the Smokey Mountains." We are also looking
forward to telling them about our future travel to New
York and what it was like to experience the big city."
Kai, grinning, added, "Yes-and we will tell them that we
met the king!" as laughter once again rang throughout
the home.
The genuine outpouring of love and warmth shared by
those gathered inside Britt Barker's home that hot July
day was humbling to witness. Open displays of kindness,
appreciation, joy, acceptance, honesty and heartfelt
laughter, indispensable to the human condition,
abounded, gently weaving into the unmistakable presence
of God. |
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