Hello, and welcome...

Hello, and welcome to my world! My name is Linda Lundgren, and I love being a wife, mother of two, and grandmother of four. My high school sweetheart, Rich, and I have been married for 57 years. 

Professionally I enjoyed teaching science and language arts. I am especially gratified to be coauthor of a science textbook and supplemental science booklets for a major textbook publisher. My biology book is a best seller in the U.S. and has been translated into several languages.

After 30 years...

After 30 years of writing about science, I decided it would be an enjoyable new challenge to write a more personal story, so I wrote a memoir of growing up in western Massachusetts as a Finnish American child—and a survivor of my father’s abuse. At best, this is a story of the endurance of serenity and love, at worst the persistence of pain and terror.

Child abuse was less reported when I grew up, but today almost 700,000 children are abused each year in the United States. My story demonstrates the horror of child abuse, its lasting effects, and above all survival.

In my memoir, my Finnish grandmother teaches me about sisu, a Finnish cultural construct so important for my survival. Sisu means survival against all odds. It means determination, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness.

In addition to my Finnish roots, my connection to nature is essential. I escape to favorite forest areas where I can feel free with birds, flowers, and other woodland creatures.