Hygge and Family History
by Shenley Puterbaugh
One of my favorite memories as a child is when I would pull my child sized rocking chair over to the window in my bedroom, wrap myself in the quilt my mom made for me and watching the snow fall.
I have always loved camping, roasting marshmallows, sitting by the fire, sipping hot cocoa, wearing comfy slippers, spending time with family and good friends and all things hygge, but I didn’t even hear this word until recently.
Hygge (pronounced HOO-GA) is a Danish word that engenders a feeling of coziness, comfort and contentment. It is a defining characteristic of Danish culture. Well, guess what, I am Danish! My great grandfather immigrated with his parents and sister from Denmark and I have been fascinated with their story. For the past 7 years I have had a deep desire to go on a family history trip to Denmark to learn more about the culture and my Danish family. Even though I haven’t had the opportunity to go yet, learning about hygge has brought me a little closer to my Danish heritage and has inspired me to dig deeper into the lives of my ancestors. When I learned about hygge, I couldn’t help thinking that I had finally found a word that describes all the things that I love! And now I better understand why I love all of these things, because it is in my blood! Now my desire to learn about the Danish culture and do family history on that side has been fueled even more.
My first interaction with someone from Denmark was 5 years ago. I had noticed that my Danish line only went back as far as my great-great grandparents who immigrated to the United States. While I was doing research on ancestry.com trying to find the next generation, I messaged someone who I believed I was related to and who lived in Denmark. She informed me that she was not a relative but offered to look into it for me. A few weeks later I was shocked when she messaged me with a tree she had compiled with hundreds of names of my ancestors from Denmark. She had spent many, many hours over a few weeks doing research for no other reason than to be nice to a complete stranger. I am so grateful for her generosity and sacrifice of time. Because I had known nothing about the Danish language, I would have really struggled to find what she gave to me. This was a very hyggelig thing to do. Hopefully when I do go to Denmark, I can meet her and say thank you in person.
Since learning about hygge, I have used this word a lot and become even more enamored with all things hygge. For Christmas this year I felt like a kid again when I opened my husband’s gift to me. He gave me a ‘box of hygge’! It included a thermos for hot cocoa, a book about hygge and the most hygge socks I have ever seen! I have loved reading the book and learning more about hygge and why Danes are ranked the happiest people in the world.
In the mean time, as I plan my trip to Denmark, I will keeping doing what I have always done, try to create hygge experiences for myself and my family. Now I have an even great motivation to look for ways to hygge; it’s part of my family history and my heritage. When my children are watching a movie, I go over and cover them with a comfy blanket. I am rewarded by a look of gratitude and coziness from them. When we are eating dinner, we spend more time chatting and laughing at the dinner table instead of getting up to do the dishes right away. When we come inside from sledding or skiing, we ALWAYS snuggle and drink hot cocoa. Learning about hygge has enriched my life and my family and best of all, I get to say this amazing word all the time!