A few head stones from a churchyard today. The first is a family grave with a group of stones framed with a little fence. At least two children of the family didn’t reach adulthood. The second is the big cross in that group – raised over Erik Degerman, born in September 1782 and died in October 1867. The third was standing outside the fence, but I think it belonged to the family (I was puzzled that it was separated from the others) and bears the inscription (translated, of course) “And the daughter Lovisa”. I wonder why she wasn’t buried close to her kin. The fourth is a part of a cross that was commonly used for the priests – the servants of God. The fifth and sixth are the two sides of the same stone and reminds of the time – far, far ago – when Sweden was a country at war. It is from 1809 – one of the last battles on Swedish soil (we haven’t been at war for over 200 years now) and marks the grave “Buried here are unknown Russian soldiers that died far from their homes of diseases and toils”. One side has the inscription in Swedish and the other in Russian.

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