Stockholm - A special day X 2

Today, June 3rd, is my birthday. However, since I was born in Chicago at 7:23AM and Stockholm is 7 hours ahead of Chicago time, I won't technically be 77 until 2:23 in the afternoon. Ok, so I'm a geek.

I have two things on my agenda today:

1 - Visit the residence where my gg grandmother, Hedvig Johanna Fock lived until she passed on the 27th February, 1915 at 84 years old.

2 - Meet two very special people, Cecilia and Ann, both descendants of Metta Fock and my cousins 4th removed at Thelins near Hötorget.

I've gotten pretty comfortable with the public transportation system in Stockholm during my stay. Today I will be changing subway trains to get to my first destination, Skänegatan 1 in a part of Stockholm called Söder.

I walked from the subway station and easily found the building at Skänegatan 1. 

I stopped in a convenience store on my way back to the subway station to buy a bottle of water. I don't speak Swedish and when I interact with people they always respond in English with enthusiasm. It seems like people in Stockholm love to exercise their language skills. The clerk offered that his sister was in San Diego and loved living there. With one exception. She told him that she smelled pot everywhere she went. When I asked about the marijuana laws in Sweden he stated that possession of even the smallest amount would result in incarceration. 

The drug laws in Sweden are very strict. Even medical use of marijuana is very limited. There are also very conservative laws regarding carrying anything that may be used as a weapon. 

"It is prohibited for anyone to carry a knife, stabbing weapon, cutting weapon or other dangerous object with them in a public place, in areas around schools, or in vehicles in a public place."

Needless to say gun laws are also very conservative. I am not going to compare Swedish society to the US. However I will say this is the safest I have felt in any foreign country with the exception of Japan. 

The subway trip from Skänegatan 1 to Thelins near Hötorget was a one train affair. Easy peasy. However I left myself much too generous amount of time getting from place to place and found myself at Thelins two hours early! Hmmmm.... I found a nice little park tucked away between buildings, people watched and lightly dozed off.

I met Cia and Ann at the scheduled place and time. There is a universal look people have when they are expecting to meet someone they have never met before in a public place. I recognized Cia and Ann immediately. 

We ordered coffee and a light lunch which Ann and Cia insisted on treating. We got our table and continued the conversation we began on the phone the day before. Both Cia and Ann had stories to tell of their pursuits of connection to Metta Fock. They had visited Metta's home prior to being incarcerated. They had visited the house where Metta had lent a helping hand to care for a neighbors wife who was gravely ill. They had lots of photos where they were accompanied by Ann Rosman on their Metta adventures. 

They all had taken soil and flowers from Metta's garden to be planted in their own gardens in Metta's memory. And each had a stone from the stairway leading to the basement. Their enthusiasm was infectious. They each had been to Carlstens Fortress and attended Stephan Anderson's concert at the fortress where they were invited to be on stage to the applause of the attendees.

I related my ancestry and traced my lineage to Metta Fock. My travels to Sweden and the locations I would visit where my ancestors lived and died.

Then Ann pulled from her bag a package gift wrapped and presented it to me with a hearty 'Happy Birthday'. Oh my! This was getting overwhelming. I opened the gift, a book on Swedish traditions with a personal message written in Swedish. They both smiled and said I would need to learn a bit of Swedish to translate the message.

We asked a waitress to take our photo. That's Ann on the left and Cia on the right. Me the onion in the petunia patch.

We parted with exchange of emails and a promise to keep in touch. We also got a quick selfie as we left the cafe.

I found my way to the nearest subway station, took the one stop ride to the station near my hotel and rested in my room absorbing the day's events. 

Later I got a small bite to eat and pondered an idea. Suppose there was an appeal to the Swedish government for a new trial for Metta Fock?