We are so lucky to have this year-in-the-life of my great-great-grandmother Lill Sandberg (Lillian Marie Anderson Sandberg, 1891-1941).

The diary itself is small, about four by six inches, covered in an embossed, deep red paper, with the title “Diary and Daily Reminder.” It has a delicate design on the endpapers and there is a handwritten note on the title page, “This Belongs to Mother Lill.” Another small notation in pencil records that the diary was written in 1934. I’d love to know who made those notes, as they are not in Lillian’s hand.

Every page has been filled in and Lillian has even made notes on other pages, including this mention of the previous Christmas, and a very special visit from her sister.

Xmas 1933 was the happiest Xmas ever at Xmas eve Ruth Peg and Marjorie came all the way from Nebr to be with us. and it was all a surprise. they stayed until Fri. a short but pleasant visit.

It’s wonderful to hear her chatting about all the folks that populated her life. In my transcriptions, I have endeavored to preserve her writing, with all her own spellings and punctuation, or lack thereof. I just wish I could hear her voice. But I know how much I sound like my mother, so I will imagine that my grandmother must have sounded like her and use that voice in my head as I am reading.

To provide some context for the story she tells, the reader should know that, in 1934, Lill turned 43 years old. She had been married to her husband Ed for 22 years, and they had 4 children: Tut (Edwina Lillian) turns 20 in the spring, Billy (William Aaron) will be 18 at the end of summer, Tuddie (Ruth Marie) turns 15 in September, and Bonnie Jane is 4 years old in February. They live just outside of Georgetown, Texas, on a farm that is still in the family, located east of the Inner Loop, just north of Wagner Middle School. Many of the other friends and family discussed in the diary live in the same neighborhood. The church she refers to is St. John’s Methodist church, originally founded by Swedish settlers, including her husband Ed’s parents, A. W. and Hedda Sandberg.

So many of the folks that Lillian refers to are friends, and also family. The more research I do, the more folks I find, in this relatively small Central Texas Swedish community, that are related to each other. I will endeavor to collect these and identify them in a Cast of Characters page. Please feel free to chime in in the comments if you have any further information about any of the entries in the diary or anyone in the cast. It will be wonderful to have those included.