By Francesca Lundstrom

How I wish I had asked the questions I am asking now when the people who could have answered them were still alive. Then I could flesh out the story of the paternal ancestry, particularly my Swedish paternal grandfather from Co. Mayo, Ireland, Eliza (Lizzie) Flynn (e) and their ten children. Much of the detail of their backgrounds has been shrouded in mystery to me and for many years, I have wanted to explore this side of my family.

I started my exploration of my roots when I was lucky enough to be granted a Swedish Institute scholarship to study at the University of Stockholm in 1982 and this is where the story of the Lundstrom family began to emerge.

As my time is running out, I have decided to set down as much information as I have been able to learn about the family and to fill in as many of the missing bits as I can.