Perhaps there shall be flashing back....

I called this an autobiography, and i seem to have mostly caught up my present day (with i'm sure some spaces that will later be filled), so it seems it is time to flash back. Since there was, though my memory of it is sometimes foggy, a time before my marriage, perhaps you would like to hear of it also. I will see if i might scoop from my memory a few stories that will glorify the Lord. And in thinking about it, i think it will not be difficult, since the Lord's glory is so easily evident. =)

The Beginning

Instead of telling you the beginning of me, i think i will venture before the beginning of me and tell you what i know of the beginning of those who came before me.

My mother.

My mother is, by genetics, 100% Swedish/Estonian. I say it that way because there is a small island that is part of the country of Estonia that my mom says is kind of "old sweden." The name of the island is Wormso (pronounced a little more like "vermsee"...well, sort of). My grandfather, whose name is Hjalmar Pilman, was born on that Estonian island. (Hjalmar is pronounced like the texan word "y'all" and the syllable "mar".) I call him Morfar, which is pronounced pretty much the way it looks--more far--. It means mother's father in Swedish. Morfar is a man of few words and a man i love very dearly. What i can tell of his history is skimpy, but i've gotten a good part of half a story i think.

I think that my family inherited courage and integrity from my morfar. Here's my example. I told you he was born on that small Estonian island. Well, he grew up in the years when communism was taking over Europe in horrible ways. And as the advent of communism approached his island, my morfar made preparations and sailed, as a 16 or 17 year old boy, across the Baltic Sea, to Sweden. And if i remember correctly, made way to begin transporting his relatives to Sweden to escape the coming reign. In Sweden, my morfar met the lovely lady Emmy Elin Viola Pettersson, my mormor (you guessed it, "mother's mother"), and they married and began a family. My mother, Maud Elisabet, was the middle child among two older brothers (twins) and two younger brothers. During the years when my mother and her brothers were growing up, Sweden was becoming more and more socialist, and my morfar recognized the prelude to communism; so he picked up his family in 1969 and moved the whole lot of them to the United States.....Chicago Illinois, to be exact. My mother was 19 years old. She says that it was a very long flight ( i want to say 16 hours ), and she saw the sun rise in Sweden as they lifted off, and it set in Chicago as they landed.

My Dad.

My dad was born the 6th of seven children to a humble Mennonite family in the very very small town of Fairview Michigan. His mother, Mary Irene Yoder was born and raised in the area and married my grandfather, Charles Benton Barker, after having worked together as hands on a farm. I am told that they got engaged one evening after work when Grandma was standing looking out at the field and telling Grandpa that she was saving her money for a new bed. Grandpa suggested that they go in together for a new bed--and thus he proposed marriage. (funny guy!)


to be continued......
(i will await corrections from my lovely mother, who keeps up with these posts....i think she will know if i have any of these details incorrect, and then i will edit.)