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Sven didn’t wipe the tears running down his face. The stiff Baltic breeze took care of that. He strained to see his mother, sisters, and infant brother in the crowd on the shore. He and his father were sailing from Sweden to America. They had it all planned out. They would earn a good bit and find a farm and build a house so when Mama and the children came they’d have a home instead of a tenement. Meanwhile Mama and the children could live with Grandfather Oldstrom. Sven was just twelve years old, but he was nearly as tall as his father. He could easily pass for fifteen. A year ago, he would have thought that his father was always right. Now he wasn’t sure. It took eleven days to reach Baltimore harbor. From there, they took a train toward Chicago. They would get off before reaching the city. Companies were hiring loggers in South Bend, Indiana. They would sign up to go to work in Michigan in October. Until then, they would work in the fields. The logging camp was often violent. Fights among the men were common. The drinking and gambling contributed to the violence. It was not the ideal place to grow up. But Sven soon learned that he had to act older than he was and work hard in order to gain the respect of the loggers. It was a mercy that he didn’t know the hardships that still lay ahead, or the number of years that would pass before he saw his mother again. But through it all God was looking out for him and brought him to a place where he could learn of Him. |
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Helen Godfrey Pyke Helen Godfrey Pyke has been teaching writing at Southern Adventist University (SAU) since 1987, where she sponsors SAU’s Writers Club. Prior to that Helen taught elementary and secondary school. Her writing career began while she was still in college. Her first book, A Sword Unsheathed, was published in 1969. Helen has written and co-written several books over the years, including No Peace for a Soldier and Any Sacrifice But Conscience. Helen is a native of northern Minnesota and a graduate of Walla Walla College. She is married to Teddie Pyke. Together they have three grown children and seven grandchildren. Their sons Greg and Doug are loggers in Alabama. Both Helen and her husband come from families historically involved in logging, which is the impetus for her most recent book—Pinch River. Gardening, historical research, and walking are Helen’s passions. She loves to cook fresh produce from her garden—as well as pizza and chocolate chip cookies—which are as varied as the stories she writes. |
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