grandmother

"But their bond goes much deeper: the grandparents have devoted a genuine cult to their grandson since his birth, raising him to believe that he is the most handsome, intelligent, and strong. Nothing is ever good enough for him. His grandmother instills habits that he will keep for life: a taste for refined cuisine as well as chocolate, the need to go to bed early (which he will never abandon), and the sense of efficiency, of which she discreetly praises."

"So I told them about my grandmother. When I was small, I spent a lot of time with her, as my parents were both professional people who worked very hard. One day she asked me, “Can you play the violin?’ As I was only five at the time and didn’t even know what a violin looked like, it seemed a very silly question and I answered no. ‘How do you know?’ she then said. “You’ve never tried.’ It was her gentle way of instilling within me the Malmsten attitude. As an only child, I was probably slightly spoilt, but we were a very close family and I was encouraged to feel that I could achieve anything."

"My breach of the family-founded authority naturally reached my grandmother and grandfather, and I was called down to Stjärnorp for reckoning. My grandmother began with strictness and one-sidedness, it was law without gospel. Every attempt to lay the responsibility for the bad relationship on both of us was completely in vain. It was I who had to conform and obey. It was that simple. We went on for a long time without my grandfather saying many words. Then he asked to speak with me alone, and we went into his study. I was upset and in despair. "Why do I always have to back down, why is it always me who has to crawl to the cross?" I wondered. Then something happened that became one of the most emotionally charged memories of my life. My grandfather turned to me with tears streaming down his face: "Because you are the stronger one." The aggression drained from me, and I found the strength to take the first step."

"SE Henschen's Heirs was a positive ownership for us younger ones because we met second cousins and a series of dad's cousins there. While the older ones discussed dividends and management, we younger ones enjoyed a pleasant camaraderie. Grandmother preferred that dividends be kept low, while her sister Dagny suffered from financial difficulty and therefore needed every penny. The available money was physically present for distribution. Once, grandmother and Dagny started throwing bundles of bills at each other and were calmed down by less excitable co-owning nieces and nephews. After many years, the properties were sold, and it was a good deal for those who had the patience to wait. The sale of grandfather's house on Kungsholmen also turned out well."