Elise's Primary Assignment

Elise's primary class is talking about ancestors. Here is Elise's contribution (as told by my mother):



This is Elise's great-great grandfather, Juho.

He was born in 1882 in Finland.

During the Russian Revolution in 1917, Juho was a train conductor on the railroad between Vipori, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia. He was married and had 3 little children and lived in a little town in between Russia and Finalnd on the Russian side.

One evening, Juho came home and said, "We need to leave. We need to pack what ever we can carry."

Juho was worried. Because of the Revolution, the Russian boarder was being closed, the railroad was being shut down and they would not be able to reach the rest of their family in Finland.

So they started walking. At the boarder, the Russian guards wouldn't let Juho go. We don't know why. Juho's wife took the children ages 5, 2 and 6 months, and walked many miles to the relatives, hoping Juho would be able to rejoin them later.

For 2 months they had no idea what was happening to Juho or where he was. Then in the middle of the night one night, Juho came all long bearded and scruffy looking and thoroughly exhausted. He had escaped the Russians by crossing a river with his clothes over his head while the guards were changing. He ran and walked through the forests, hiding and foraging.

Everyone was so happy that he made it back alive.

They struggled to make ends meet for a while by baking and selling pastries on the street until Juho was able to get another job with the railroad.

This is Juho's son, Reino, my great-grandfather.


This is Reino's daughter, Kirsti, my grandmother.(She's holding Anna.)


This is Kirsti's daughter, Sonja, my mother.


And this is me.


All these people and so many more, make up who I am. I am thankful for my ancestors.