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This is the story of a young girl growing up in rural Sweden with dreams
of the Promised Land, America. May-Britt grew up on a farm
in the most primitive part of Småland, Sweden. As she
shares her memories we learn what life was like on the farm
that was located so deep in the forest it was called, “The
end of the world.”
“Growing up, I never dreamed I would one day be living in the Rocky
Mountains of Colorado,” she says laughing. But dream she
did, and those dreams took her on a long journey filled with
laughter and joy, hardship and sorrow, adventure and
excitement.
She dreamed of becoming a nurse, but when her mother died she had to
leave school and return home to help care for her sick
father and her five younger siblings.
She dreamed of adventure and was one of the first to travel by airplane
to America, where she found work, bought a car and drove
across the country. While returning home to Sweden in July
1956 her journey came to an abrupt stop when her ship, the
MS Stockholm, collided with the Andrea Doria. The Andrea
Doria sank and the Stockholm limped back to the New York
harbor, and May-Britt had to wait for another ship.
She dreamed of love. One day, while driving up highway 101 in California
at 80 mph, she and her girlfriend spotted two young men in a
car in the next lane. Smiling and waving, the men followed
the girls to a gas station and asked them if they would like
to have coffee with them. More than 50 years later,
May-Britt is still married to the man she met on hwy. 101.
She dreamed of prosperity and began early to find ways to make money:
catching leeches in a nearby lake to sell to her Grandmother
who used them to suck the blood from her swollen legs;
selling fish door to door and picking berries to sell to the
local store. Later, beginning with nothing but their
willingness to work hard and a book titled, “How to Make a
Million Dollars in your Spare Time,” she and her husband
began buying real estate, one fixer upper at a time. Now
retired, she looks back at the successes and failures they
have experienced throughout the years.
This is the story of a young girl who refused to give up on her dreams
despite the many obstacles rising up in her path. It is a
story of determination and hard work, of love and laughter,
and of God’s grace and provision.
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