It began as a dream in May of 2014. My sister, Melanie Welch, was in and out of the hospital as she battled an incurable form of cancer called soft tissue sarcoma. She had been fighting this particular form of cancer since 2011. My mother, Naoma Harlow Sundgren, died from breast cancer in 1998 and my father, Richard Pride Sundgren died from a blood infection in 2013.
As I struggled with my sister's worsening condition, I had a dream visit from my father in May of 2014. He was in full voice and spoke to me. He told me that I knew all the stories of the family, and I needed to tell them. My sister Melanie had always wanted to but never got around to it. I have been keeping journals since I was 15, so I was the obvious choice to finally tell our unique family history, going back to when my mom was born on March 14, 1925, and my dad was born on November 18, 1925.
My sister died on July 8, 2014 at the age of 48. She left behind our brother Craig, myself, her husband David Welch, and her four children, Marc, Amy, Ryan and Sarah.
I have had the voices of the past haunt me since, hearing our laughter, our tears, our crazy young days, and the squeals of our children at the pool, on Christmases, on Thanksgivings, and any and all celebrations we got together about, sometimes not for any reason at all. I also began to hear the voices of my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents, and childhood friends. It is time to set some of those stories down, to share with the remaining family I have, as well as a few of our childhood friends that are still alive today and remember our times together.
A little about our history before I start. My mother was part of the family Harlow. Our line of Harlow's were founders of this great country, the U S of A. The first Harlow landed in Plymouth soon after that famous first winter. We have much research that has gone on in my generation to get the genealogy of the family set down. Most of the information is now housed in Plymouth, MA. at The Harlow House. If I am able to get this set of stories done, a copy will be given to the family archive if they wish to have it.
As I struggled with my sister's worsening condition, I had a dream visit from my father in May of 2014. He was in full voice and spoke to me. He told me that I knew all the stories of the family, and I needed to tell them. My sister Melanie had always wanted to but never got around to it. I have been keeping journals since I was 15, so I was the obvious choice to finally tell our unique family history, going back to when my mom was born on March 14, 1925, and my dad was born on November 18, 1925.
My sister died on July 8, 2014 at the age of 48. She left behind our brother Craig, myself, her husband David Welch, and her four children, Marc, Amy, Ryan and Sarah.
I have had the voices of the past haunt me since, hearing our laughter, our tears, our crazy young days, and the squeals of our children at the pool, on Christmases, on Thanksgivings, and any and all celebrations we got together about, sometimes not for any reason at all. I also began to hear the voices of my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents, and childhood friends. It is time to set some of those stories down, to share with the remaining family I have, as well as a few of our childhood friends that are still alive today and remember our times together.
A little about our history before I start. My mother was part of the family Harlow. Our line of Harlow's were founders of this great country, the U S of A. The first Harlow landed in Plymouth soon after that famous first winter. We have much research that has gone on in my generation to get the genealogy of the family set down. Most of the information is now housed in Plymouth, MA. at The Harlow House. If I am able to get this set of stories done, a copy will be given to the family archive if they wish to have it.
My mother was born to Ralph Emerson Harlow and Gertrude Aborn. There were five children which included Eleanor, Ralph, Phyllis, Ronald and my mom. More on all these Harlow's later as I recall the oral history and stir up my memory banks.
My father was part of the Pride family on his mother's side and the Sundgren family on his father's side. The Pride's did not come over on the Mayflower, but they were part of some of the first families that came later, on other ships. The Pride's landed in Massachusetts as well, and founded a town called Pride's Crossing, a burrough of the current Beverly, MA. as they made their way up to Maine. They also settled Windham County in Maine, and the family owned most of it. That land was lost due to one of the family that had a penchant for gambling. He gambled away his land to pay his debts, and the family was left with hardly more than the shirts on their backs.
The Sundgrens were relative newcomers to America back in the mid 1800's. Peter Sundgren came over from Sweden to live with his brother Nicholas, who had a large dairy farm in Bristol, CT.
My father was part of the Pride family on his mother's side and the Sundgren family on his father's side. The Pride's did not come over on the Mayflower, but they were part of some of the first families that came later, on other ships. The Pride's landed in Massachusetts as well, and founded a town called Pride's Crossing, a burrough of the current Beverly, MA. as they made their way up to Maine. They also settled Windham County in Maine, and the family owned most of it. That land was lost due to one of the family that had a penchant for gambling. He gambled away his land to pay his debts, and the family was left with hardly more than the shirts on their backs.
The Sundgrens were relative newcomers to America back in the mid 1800's. Peter Sundgren came over from Sweden to live with his brother Nicholas, who had a large dairy farm in Bristol, CT.
He met a woman named Anna, and they married and began the first generation of Sundgren's. From that first generation, my father's father was born. His name was William Sundgren.
William met Edna May Pride and they married and had William, Elizebeth, and my father Richard. Dad was born in New York City, but grew up primarily in Maine.
My dad met my mother in 1954 and they married in 1955. Then came Craig, me (June) and our little sister Melanie.
Melanie married David Welch and they had Marc, Amy, Ryan and Sarah. That is when the Welch's entered this mix of families.
I married Michael Mita, and we had a daughter, Kathleen Linnea, and that was when the Mita's joined our clan. Enough of family connections and births and deaths. That will all be covered throughout the compilation of these stories. Let's get on to the fun stuff now.
The stories I convey are not in any particular chronological order. Some were told to me by my mother and father. Some are experiences that happened in our childhood and others are relatively current. These stories are not anything more than a living history to be given to our children and any other family member that would like a copy. However, they can be viewed publicly by anyone interested in knowing how life was lived since 1925. I hope that strangers will find some to be quite humorous and entertaining.
My intention is to inspire all families to try their hand at creating their own anthologies of stories, history, and accomplishments to be given to their families. I think most children would love to have a written history of their family life to give to their children, or to their town's historical society, or to a local library.
If nothing else, every parent should take the time to write letters to their children throughout their children's growing up years. My sister's kids would have loved to have letters of advice from their mother as she tried to imagine various events in their lives, such as marriage, children, job changes, travel, etc. She never wrote any letters to them, and now she is gone. So I will try to step in and give them some of what their mother might have written if she had taken the task to heart.
Here is to all the Harlow's, all the Sundgren's, all the Welch's and all the Mita's. The families are a lot smaller now, but perhaps some good will come out of this loosely written story of our lives.
June Sundgren Mita
Tolland, CT.
William met Edna May Pride and they married and had William, Elizebeth, and my father Richard. Dad was born in New York City, but grew up primarily in Maine.
My dad met my mother in 1954 and they married in 1955. Then came Craig, me (June) and our little sister Melanie.
Melanie married David Welch and they had Marc, Amy, Ryan and Sarah. That is when the Welch's entered this mix of families.
I married Michael Mita, and we had a daughter, Kathleen Linnea, and that was when the Mita's joined our clan. Enough of family connections and births and deaths. That will all be covered throughout the compilation of these stories. Let's get on to the fun stuff now.
The stories I convey are not in any particular chronological order. Some were told to me by my mother and father. Some are experiences that happened in our childhood and others are relatively current. These stories are not anything more than a living history to be given to our children and any other family member that would like a copy. However, they can be viewed publicly by anyone interested in knowing how life was lived since 1925. I hope that strangers will find some to be quite humorous and entertaining.
My intention is to inspire all families to try their hand at creating their own anthologies of stories, history, and accomplishments to be given to their families. I think most children would love to have a written history of their family life to give to their children, or to their town's historical society, or to a local library.
If nothing else, every parent should take the time to write letters to their children throughout their children's growing up years. My sister's kids would have loved to have letters of advice from their mother as she tried to imagine various events in their lives, such as marriage, children, job changes, travel, etc. She never wrote any letters to them, and now she is gone. So I will try to step in and give them some of what their mother might have written if she had taken the task to heart.
Here is to all the Harlow's, all the Sundgren's, all the Welch's and all the Mita's. The families are a lot smaller now, but perhaps some good will come out of this loosely written story of our lives.
June Sundgren Mita
Tolland, CT.
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