It was the summer of 2017 and I was finally able to take my family to visit Sweden, the birth country of my
grandmother,
Margit Vanja (Bengtsson) Steele.
My grandmother, Margit Vanja Bengtsson, was the first child of Agnes (Olsson) and Carl Bengtsson (website here). Carl, Agnes, and Margit lived in Stormon, a small house outside of Forshaga Sweden (GPS Latitude - 59
deg 32' 10.76" GPS Longitude - 13 deg 30' 2.31" or 59.537881, 13.499974). The family soon sailed to America
in 1908 on the White Star Lines S.S. Adriatica, landing in New York.
After months of planning my wife, our three kids, my sister, Sheri (aka Booi), and my mother, Margaret
(Margit Vanja's youngest child), were ready to invade Scandinavia. Michelle (my lovely and thrifty wife)
found some great rental houses or apartments at all the major stops on our trip and my sister Booi was able
to locate reasonable priced air fair. It was all coming together. Booi flew up to St. Louis from Austin, TX
and she and mom (Margaret/Peggy) stayed at our house Friday night, June 2. Bright and early Saturday morning
we all got up early and packed into the family van to drive to O'Hare airport in Chicago. The trip had
begun!