I had heard of people who became bonded as friends via the internet. Sometimes, even fall in love and get married. But, last July when I received a letter from a second cousin in Sweden , I had no idea that within three months, my cousin Asta's eldest son, Bo, ("Lion Bo") and I would be bonded, forever. (I think) His address included his email address, so I immediately replied via email. My daughter and I had recently visited his mom, Asta, (her grandmother,  Mathilda was my dad's oldest sister). On that visit, Asta repeated many times, "It is too bad that Bo isn't here."

Asta has three sons, Bo being the oldest. He had been in the Swedish Army, and had never been home when I had visited before. He had now retired as a Major and had settled in a small town, Vittsjo, in the same province as his mom. Asta had been a farm wife and the times I had visited her she lived in a small town of Vitaby . Since her husband died, had moved to St Olaf, another village not too far from where Bo loveseats is delightful person, 3 years younger than me, but speaks no English. I know Swedish fairly well, and enjoyed conversing. But, we did laugh a bit in the exchange.
 But back to Bo -and the bonding process. He had declared his intentions of coming to visit along with his mom and his wife Britt in October for ten days. I was delighted to send him a big "velkommen." I would try to arrange for him to meet family and see some places of interest. In the meantime, we emailed back and forth. I always was a regular letter writer, but email is much better. Time involved: five days vs. five minutes. During the ensuing months, Bo and I got acquainted. He is a proud LION, in fact the president of his 25 member Lions club. He also likes to write, as I do, and along with stories of his travels he writes children's stories for his five grandchildren. And publishes them on the Vittsjo-Bjarnum Lions website. (Bjarnum is a nearby small town, the total population of both about 4000.) He asked about the Willmar Lions club.  How many members? Any women members? Well, I know a Willmar Lion or two, so I called one. Two of my brothers have been Lions. One is deceased, but my 87 year old brother got very excited about our Swedish cousin being a LION, and when he found out Bo was invited to speak to the Willmar Noon Lions, he literally burst into tears.
 Rolland lives way up in the NW corner of Minnesota and doesn't drive anymore, but wanted to meet Bo so bad. Luck would have it, my son-in-law who was on vacation and doesn't mind driving got him down to St Paul to meet Bo and they did a lot of "Lion" as well as family talk. After a few days doing Swedish sights around the Cities, I took them in my little Blue Prius to Willmar and south ward. Actually, I took advantage of having a driver the rest of the time, Bo being an excellent and safe driver. On the way to Willmar , we stopped at Tuck's Café in Paynesville (where both my Lion brothers lived for some time) and met my nephew for a "home cooked" meal. Going on to Green Lake , Spicer we had an invitation for dinner at good friends, Volvo owners, Jim and Marilyn Dahl, who are full of Swedish blood. (I am only half full.)
As soon as we entered their living room, Bo spotted a clock at standstill. He immediately asked, "Do you want me to fix the clock?"  And he did. He is a man of many trades, it seems. At home, he recently built a "kakelugn" an ancient type of heating stove, that you can see in the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis As the President of his Lions, he has the members making cement clocks and candle holders, cutting spruce branches, (to decorate graves) making money for their projects. The chief of which is a school for girls in Nepal .
 In Willmar, they met Eileen Magnusen , who is not only knows a lot about the Swedish immigrant history in this area, but we found out her Swedish immigrant history included being from the very same area where my dad and family lived. Besides good coffee at her house, she showed us the good Swedish church, Bethel Lutheran. Established in 1891 by Swedish immigrants, it has been a cornerstone in the heart of Willmar since 1927. They still celebrate Lucia Day, but today, it would be  a miracle to find any that know what "God Dag" means.
The next day, we drove south to Springfield , stopping at my birth farm place on the way. We had lunch at the town's only café, where the Springfield Advance Press (weekly) editor, interviewed Bo. He quickly noted the sign in the café that said the Springfield Lions meet there. Bo was interested in, besides LIONS, seeing how rural Minnesota compared with rural small town in Sweden . I consider Springfield my home town as I went to High school there and my parents, after retiring built a house and lived here many years. It has a population comparable to Bo's town, unlike many small towns in Minnesota , it continues to thrive. It is conservative, politically, but quite progressive, in that its citizens have supported and sustained, a modern hospital, Nursing home, community centre, marvellous public library and more.
 Bo had a camera and every sign that had Lions on it is now a part of his 1000 picture collection from his Minnesota trip. On the way back to Willmar , passing Olivia, Bo suddenly stopped the car, having spotted a group of LIONS doing their twice yearly ditch cleaning. He ran over, grabbed a yellow sack and introduced himself: "Lion Bo from Sweden ." I took the picture. Back in the car, He remarked, "How could I be so lucky? To run into them, when they only do this twice a year." The next day, Bo gave a presentation to the Noon Lions in Willmar . I insisted on introducing him. After all, it's not every old lady that is bonded to the most enthusiastic Lion in Sweden , and we are blood related. How could I be so lucky?
 If you know a Noon Lion, ask them if they remember "Lion Bo from Sweden "
 Bo: This is what I have sent to the Willmar paper for their quarterly issue "Prime Time" which contains stories written by older people. I know it could use editing, so "varsa god"