Transcripted Interview:
Interviewer: Kassidy Brening (myself, her granddaughter)
Interviewed: Bonita (Bunny) Brening
Date of Interview: October 4, 2022
K: Let’s start with your mom, Golden Ann Henning, or as we knew referred to her Mor Mor. B: Well, she was born in Warmland Sweden in 1920 on January 1st. She immigrated to Chicago when she was four years old with her parents, Ester, and Martin Secund. They were poor, and after her father was murdered in 1937, even poorer. Her mother was all she had, so she grew up with this longing for a big family and lots of loved ones.
K: As I understand, she knew little English too, so she really had no support system or community.
B: Yes, and when she found her first husband— K: Could you spell his name for me, please?
B: Sure, A-L-V-A-H Henning. So, they got married within a year and then had three children. I was the oldest born in 1943 and then my brother Teddy who passed away just two years after he was born and Susan in 1947. Teddy’s passing broke her heart, but he was sick, and we all knew that he was in a better place. By the time she was 37 then the lord had her dad and her baby boy.
K: I still remember his cute baby picture at her old house in Granite Bay and his little shoes too.
G: Oh, that’s so sweet, yes, I remember that too, now I have them.
K: Now, she would obviously go onto have a large family, from which point on I am more familiar with her life, but could you tell me about her life before you and your sister started your own families?
B: Sure, so she started with her own little dress shop but one day a producer—who I forget the name of, let me think…
K: Okay, we can always come back to it too.
B: Well anyway a producer spotted her and said she was beautiful and that she just must be in this movie, and you know Mor Mor she had that spunk and sass, and she was a natural.
K: I certainly remember the sass, stubborn too—I say that lovingly.
B: Ohm yes, and so she did lots of movies and some tv shows. Umm, she also did commercials and wrote two books too— “Song of Promise” and her biography obviously. She wrote and produced “Golden Love”, too.
K: Can you name some of the more popular movies she’s been in?
B: Sure, Jack Frost, Nash Bridges, and Wisdom were her most known ones, I guess.
K: Okay thanks, and now I want to get back to the family again because she always said that was her biggest accomplishment.
B: Yes, she felt so blessed after having no family so when I married Papa and had your dad and aunt, and uncle and little Susie went on to marry Cal and have her children she was just so happy and felt so blessed.
K: And the family kept growing!
B: Yes, by the time she passed away she had had 6 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. K: Obviously I know them all, but would you mind stating their names for me? If you could in birth order?
B: Of course, so I had Leslie, Greg, and Scott and then my sister had Courtney, Calvin, and
Susie. It’s actually Leslie, Courtney, Greg, Scott, Calvin Susie though. K: Thank you.
B: Of course, and then grandchildren. So, your Aunt Leslie had Allie, Jessica, Andrew, and Julia and then Vanya came in—2008 (Adopted). And then your dad had little Cami, Ashley, you, and Cole. Uncle Scott had Sydney, Tyson, and Presley. Then Calvin had Konrad and Kai, then Elsa. And Susie had Sierra and Wyatt. And then Jessica obviously had Wyatt and Beau and just had sweet precious baby Brayden.
K: Wow thank you; I know we have a big family, but it sounds super-big when it’s in a list like that haha.
B: I know we are very blessed. She always said that, and I have always said that family is most important.
K: So, can you tell me more about the family traditions Mor Mor brought from Sweden and how that influenced our families’ lives? For instance, we sing the Swedish Birthday song following the English one, and we have certain holiday traditions I would love to record as well.
B: It is the matriarch’s job to finish the birthday song with the ““Ett fyrfaldigt han/hon leve … “and then the “Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”. I remember my Mor Mor, your Mor Mor Mor, saying it. And then Mor Mor said it, and now I say it.
K: Why do you think that particular Swedish tradition stuck with our family all this time?
B: That’s a good question!
B: I think because it is fun and because it is something special and for a celebration, but mainly because it was fun.
K: Yeah, I mean over the years of childish pronunciation we have certainly come to adopt it as our own—I looked it up with Sydney at the last birthday party and we were nowhere near as accurate as we had thought.
B: Well, it still honors Sweden and my mother and her mother and where we come from, the spirit of it and the fun of it.
K: That is very true. Another distinct tradition that we still practice today, one of my favorites is the Fleta Bread at Christmas time.
B: Yes, oh you and Sydney last year were so sweet, so precious.
K: I hope we can make it again this year, too! It felt like we were honoring her memory.
B: Aw, you’re precious. Yes, she looks down on you from heaven and is grateful. K: Did her family change their surnames when immigrating here?
B: No.
K: Were there any other name changes in the family?
B: Well, I don’t think this is what you mean but I and Papa both don’t go by our “real names”. K: Oh yes, true. Tell me a little bit about why you decided to change your name again. B: Well, my legal name is still Bonita, but I started going by Bunny when I was in elementary school because there was another Bonita in my grade, and she was prettier than I was, and sit was confusing and so one way or another I started going by Bunny because it was closely related, and I liked the animal and she got to keep the name. And I’m still Bunny.
K: So, tell me a little about you and Papa’s lives.
B: Well, you know Papa started as a mechanic, he took over his father’s business. And then came the Burger King times and that lasted most of his life. He franchised them and then your father did too.
K: And what was your life like?
B: It was wonderful. I always wanted to be a mom and now I had three precious babies and I got to stay home with them and be a housewife and a stay-at-home mom and I just loved it. Your dad was a little stinker though, you tell him that.
Significance:
Religion is a huge part of my grandmother and great grandmother’s experience, particularly because of the tough nature of my Mor Mor’s childhood. Not only did she immigrate to America at a young age, and without community or support. But when her father was murdered, it left her and her mother to support themselves—financially yes, but also emotionally. Thus, how her and my grandmother came to understand a large family as a blessing from God is understandable and follows a certain logic. I think a similar logic was used in the keeping of Swedish traditions and heritage reminders, in that family is precious and we need to honor and be grateful for those we have. Although we did not discuss this directly, we have family in Sweden who to this day my family, particularly my grandmother is in contact with and have visited throughout the years. I myself went on a trip with my grandma and cousin, Sydney, to meet them and to bury my grandmother in her homeland. Also, one important reflection of this interview was my great grandmothers work in movies and other forms of media.