Ruth Andersson, my mother's cousin in Sweden. She sent Christmas cards for many years and hosted us for dinners and let us stay with her on a trip to my grandfather's home parish. She was a very strong and remarkable person.
Her friend wrote in Swedish a memory of her, here translated by Google:
My Friend Ruth Andersson
Marie Söhrman
On 26 September [2008] I was at Ruth Anderson's funeral in East Ämtervik Church. Ruth worked at the bank and the former post office at Eastern Ämtervik before it was closed. Then she continued her work in home care. She hand worked and painted porcelain figurines. Ruth was one of those people who never took a lot of space but still was there for anyone who needed her care. It was not long ago, Ruth ended up in home care and then, too soon, within a few years, became ill and herself needed the help that she gave others throughout her life. It was not long ago she wandered from her home and up to mine to help me through the home care that I needed. It did not matter if it was raining or a snowstorm, Ruth went punctually doing the rounds to all who needed her care. This was not an ordinary work for her, but rather a calling. It did not matter that the day was significantly longer for her than the time she actually got paid for. "I want to work at my own pace, she said, and also I need these walks." I remember my husband Kjell described that when Ruth did any household chore for us so she would not disturb us, she was scarcely heard as she handled dishes. Kjell said she made just as much noise as a "dust mote flying in a draf"t. A loving description that symbolically explains how Ruth managed her task when she helped a fellow human being. I also remember how she in a natural manner got in front of television camera after Ingela Power made thedocumentary about me and Kjell that was shown on TV in summer of 2001. Ruth's children wonder to this day how I managed to get her to go along with this, she never even wanted to have a still image photographed or be central in any way at all, They said.Ruth's explanation was that she thought it was important to show people how disabled people were in reality, though they are invisible to many. "I do not think people understand how hard she has it, "she says in the film. I don't think it was easy for her to do this but she thought it was important that it came out. To me, she often said when someone came to me and Kjell on a coffee break:"Do not lift the thermos, but let guests pour themselves."When Ruth was at the community center and helped us by sitting in the bank museum, she would also then like a mother bird asked me: "Are not you going up to bed for a while, I think it looks like you need it, you're running around here too much. "I have often wondered how she could know things long before I came to, that which later gave me pain and difficulty sleeping late at night. .Ruth was an angel who stayed too short a time here on earth. She never had time to think about herself and when she finally received a pension after a long working life, well then she got sick and left us too soon. Ruth was only 67 years. [page 12, Ostemtingen, East Amtervik Folklore Society, year 2008, Number 50].
No comments:
Post a Comment