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WINTER STORY # 8
by Åsa Linderborg, Oisín Cantwell and Magnus Wennman
“Winter story”.
Ted Ström’s classic song from 1984 is a sweet story about Sweden. A gloomy, windswept country in the north, where ordinary people fight and do the best they can.
37 years later, another country, another time. And a pandemic.
Oisín Cantwell, Åsa Linderborg and Magnus Wennman have followed in the footsteps of “Vintersaga”. How do you live, what do you work with and what do you dream of?
A lonely Volvo struggles with the headwind Tjörnbron
When Rita cordenius talking about Sune she smiles with her whole body.
– We had five years together. They have been a very pleasant and rewarding five years in my life.
January 1980. Sune heads home to Orust after attending an anti-nuclear power rally at Chalmers in Gothenburg. There is fog when the Star Clipper bulk carrier collides with Tjörnbron, which partially collapses. In the dark, car after car hits the bridge and crashes to death. Sune is one of them.
– I was asleep when it happened, says Rita. In the morning I found out about the accident and Sune had not returned home.
I call the Police.
They just laughed and said that he had probably been out and about. I will never forget that.
We meet at an outdoor cafe in Slottsskogen. Winter is beautiful in Gothenburg, the light almost holy. There’s also a quirky harmonious glow resting on Rita Cordenius, where she’s sitting with her shoulder-length silver-gray hair and a soft cup of coffee.
Rita was no more than 26 years old when she lost Sune. Their daughter Emma was 2 years old. How do you deal with such a disaster?
– I have my faith in God and in the guardian angels. Emma and I could have been in the car just as easily that night. It is important not to feel sorry for yourself.
Rita says that the first time it was like in a haze. Decided to take one day at a time and sometimes just one step at a time, which may be easier said than done. Supported parents and in-laws. Neighbors rang the bell. Someone came with wine and offered company for a while.
– One morning they called and said the divers had found Sune. It felt important that he have a royal funeral.
Sune worked as a carpenter. Drawing in a nursery. She has turned 67 and still works a couple of afternoons a week as a leisure educator. Rita says that sometimes she has had a bad time, but also very lucky.
In the fall of 1980 he moved to Majorna, where he still lives. She met a new man and had another daughter. The pandemic means that you cannot meet the grandchildren you love.
The patience she received as a young widow that she has benefited from all her life and especially now when the virus is buzzing.
– It is important to persevere and hold on to hope. Then there will be better times.
We talked a bit about “Winter’s Tale”, about melancholy as a constant theme of the song. Rita says she feels sad when she thinks about how the world has changed with environmental degradation and crime. And how Gothenburg has become denser; tall ugly houses rise to the sky.
Photos turn yellow, memories fade Forty years after the accident, he no longer thinks about Sune every day, but he likes to talk about him.
– When Sune died, I probably had the greatest benefit from those who didn’t want to talk about the accident, but who asked me what it was like, so I was able to talk about it.
– He was so impulsive, full of life. It taught me the importance of spontaneity. But I have learned humility from life.
Rita Cordenius says she has a lot to be thankful for: the children, the choir, the violin. He reads a lot and likes to read books about Bohuslän.
– I love life! I want to stop time and live 200 years.
Text: Oisín Cantwell, Åsa Linderborg Photo: Magnus Wennman Research: Kerstin weigl Editor: Sofia Boström Editorial utvecklingschef: Titti Jersler Technology leader: Magnus flyckt Webbutveckling: John Carehag, Magnus Flyckt, Julia Miodyńska, Nicolai Rosdahl Tellefsen, Patrick Wojda UX / Design: Daniel Kozlowski Kartgrafik: Paul wallander
