20-year-old Solvieg set sail for the United States alone in 1952 aboard the Ameican-Swedish Ocean Liner "Stockholm"

Falling in love quickly seemed natural for Solveig - she was in love with life! - hungry to experience all the riches she had dreamed she would find in America. As impetuous as she was beautiful, she had already shocked her countrymen in Sweden with the boldness of her lone journey across the Atlantic aboard the Swedish-American passenger ship, "Stockholm" in 1952. It was a daring undertaking even for the vivacious, blond-haired girl whose vocal ability won her first place in competition and who sang with the Union Orchestra and other bands at dances and parties.

Her families' reservations were quieted only by their knowledge that their self-willed daughter was also intelligent and capable. Besides, they knew a greater command of the English language would benefit their ambitious daughter. At the time, Sweden was not the prosperous country it is today, and it was the dream of many to seek better lives in America. Therefore, it was with faith and trust that the couple watched their daughter sail for far-away shores, with her two-year contract for work as an au pair in California helping to quiet their anxieties.

Now, as she made her way from California to Tennessee, the awareness of her family's high expectations weighed heavily on the young woman. She recalled her younger sister, Sonja's, adoring gaze when she had said her goodbyes at the port in Sweden.

Finally arriving at Fort Campbell, she located the man with whom she hoped to build a future and shared with him her news; the two were to be parents. Solveig's hopes were dashed when the man she thought had loved her made clear he had no intention of assuming the role of family man and father to their unborn child. Now utterly alone, Solveig fought despair as she contemplated the scandal the news would bring at home, not only for herself but for her family as well. She could not bear to have Sonja's pride in her older sister twisted by taunting schoolchildren or for townspeople to whisper among themselves as her parents walked by.

So it was that on November 4, 1954, Sweden's fair-haired girl, Solveig Fagerlund, gave birth to a baby girl in Nashville, Tennessee, having lived during her pregnancy at the Florence Crittenden Home for Unwed Mothers. In the only act of love she was allowed, she named her newborn daughter Linda Suzanne.

It was love, as well, that changed her name, upon her adoption to Raymond and Anne Smith of Dresden, to Anne Britt. Growing up, she was known as Britt, the uniquely beautiful family name of her new mother.

As Britt grew up in Dresden, Solveig picked up the pieces of her broken dreams and summoned the courage to move on. The piece that she could not fit into her new life, she stored in her heart.

The two years Solveig had planned to stay in America stretched into many more when she met and married Bob Farnham, an electronics engineer from Newark, New Jersey, where the couple made their home.

In 1960, eight years after leaving home, Solveig and her husband vacationed in Sweden for three weeks where she was welcomed by family and community with open arms. As they recalled the brash ambition of her youth and embraced the success of her new family, her secret remained untold.

The following year, a son was born to Bob and Solveig, seven years after she had born alone the birth of her daughter. In 1974, when Glenn was 12 years old, the family moved to Sweden where they remained.

As Britt grew older in Tennessee, her own heart ached as if the shard of lost dreams in Solveig's heart was the missing piece her own life needed to be whole. Around the age of 32, she began searching in earnest for the woman who had given her life.

After many phone calls. letters and exchanges of photos, Glenn and Britt finally meet at the airport in Nashville, Tennessee.

When the records were opened, Britt was required to sign a legal document agreeing not to make contact with any potential family member, with Department of Human Services personnel responsible for handling the contact process. Once contact was made by the State, Britt knew the law provided a 90-day period during which the person could decide whether or not to establish contact with her.

Even after the opening of the records, however, it was another year and a half before the mystery was finally solved with the diligent work of Department of Human Services worker Deidre Young in Nashville.

"I would call her every two weeks and say, "Have you forgotten me?" Britt laughed gratefully, saying Ms. Young never became impatient with her calls. "She was so compassionate; she didn't treat me like a number, and I'm sure she has hundreds of other cases," Britt continued.
Deidre eventually discovered Solveig had married Robert Farnham from New Jersey, and, following leads gleaned with that knowledge, she made contact with Glenn's cousin in upstate New York in November last year.

It was a cryptic communication that ensued, with Deidre advising only that a woman in Tennessee was eager to get in touch with Glenn. She supplied her name and e-mail address and asked that Glenn get in touch with her for more information.

"I sent Deidre an e-mail asking politely what it was all about," says Glenn, who arrived in Tennessee to visit his new-found sister recently. Deidre's reply intensified the mystery, asking for a phone number where she might speak with him directly.

"I was first notified of Britt by Deidre on the phone - it came right out of the blue!" Glenn relates. "She called me up and asked specifics about my full name, and my mother's maiden name. When she knew she was speaking with the right person, she said 'There is a woman born in 1954 of your mother that would like to have contact with you.' She said I would be mailed the veto registration and that I could accept or decline further contact with Britt. I told her on the phone that very instant that was not an option. I was very eager to get to know Britt."

Growing up as an only child, with few children on his block to play with, Glenn had dreamed of having a brother or sister throughout his childhood. As soon as he received the paperwork, he completed the documents, returning them by Federal Express to speed their arrival in the United States.

Unable to wait for his first communication with his sister, he noted in the comments section of the form: "To the daughter of Solveig Fagerlund (my sister!): I am enormously looking forward to getting in contact with you. You are a very welcome member to the family! All the best to you and much love 'til then."

"I just wanted to let Britt know as soon as possible that I was very eager, very happy," Glenn says.

Within five minutes of opening the envelope from Deidre containing Britt's phone number, he was talking to his sister. An hour or so later, he underscored the depth of his emotions by sending Britt a "big, very beautiful bouquet of roses." Since then, the two speak by phone "at least two times a week." Their conversations sometimes go on for an hour or more.

"It's like coming home, talking to Britt," Glenn intimates. "We see eye to eye; there are many things we have in common without thinking about it or knowing it."

"He is a dream come true," Britt says quietly. "I couldn't ask for a more loving person... he's just been great, it's too good to be true."

"This is life," Glenn says after brother and sister find each other across the span of the Atlantic Ocean

Britt had kept her search somewhat private too, waiting until the Sunday before meeting Glenn to tell her mother, who said, "That's good, maybe this is what you've been looking for all this time," Britt shares.

Glenn, who works with the Ericsson microelectronics company in Sweden, had plenty of people to tell as well. "They're all fascinated by this story," he says, "I am extremely happy and everyone is so happy for me - just flabbergasted - I am talking to everyone close to me about Britt. They are very supportive of me and even more so when I told them I was making the trip to meet Britt."

After months of phone calls, letters and photo sharing, Glenn could wait no longer. Originally planning a spring trip to the United States, he jumped at the chance to come early when he saw room in his schedule. " I just wanted to get to hug her; get to see her in the flesh," he says.

His sister couldn't be happier to have him. "It's been the most wonderful experience," she says earnestly. "It's made my life complete and just whole, a missing part of my life I couldn't figure out. God has just been a part of this and blessed me beyond measure."

"It's not only beneficial for Britt, it's a great big thing for me too; enormous for me," Glenn says.

Britt's biological father is also less a mystery after Deidre's help. Of Cherokee Indian descent, he also followed a long line of military servicemen in his family. Himself a Korean War veteran, he was released from the military on a medical discharge only to die two weeks later at the age of 29. Married at the time of his death, the couple had an 18-month-old daughter named Cathy and another child on the way.

That may be a search for another time, but for now Britt is satisfied. "I'm happy enough, thrilled enough, just overwhelmed with finding my brother," she says with heartfelt joy.

Britt and Glenn are both grateful for the enthusiasm and support they have received from family and friends. "Everybody has just been real supportive," says Britt, who makes special mention of her neighbor, Buddy Van (Vannieuwenhuze), who brought fresh fruit and other treats to help celebrate Glenn's visit.

Britt is bowled over when Glenn reveals his future plans. "I'm looking at the possibility of bringing her to Sweden," he says thoughtfully. "I'm already dreaming about what I'm going to show Britt, show her a little of her mother's home country."

Britt is the wife of David Barker, the mother of four daughters and three stepchildren and grandmother to five grandchildren. Her children are: Edith Guilfoose of Paris; Jo Anna Moreland of Lexington, Kentucky; Kimberly Washburn of Gleason; Jessica Barker of Dresden and step-children Beth Killion and Becky Hudson, both of Paris, and Brock Barker who is stationed in Germany with the U.S. military. She works as a substitute teacher in Henry County and attends Calvary Tabernacle in McKenzie.

Phone (731) 352-3323 or Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com