Rudy Owens in Helsinki, Finland, February 2024
As a Finnish-American by birth, with one quarter of my ancestry rooted in the Nordic nation of Finland, I am by birthright personally and biologically attached to this country. Today, this is cause for celebration, as suddenly all things Finnish, in the eyes of the world and social media, are wildly cool—or as the Finns say, “Siistia!”
In March 2024, it was named, for the seventh year in a row, the world’s “happiest country,” according to a United Nations report examining major areas of individual and societal wellbeing. But that is not the reason I have taken a strong and later-in-life interest in my core Finnishness and my biological family history that can be traced to Finland’s farming belt.
I am a long lost “son” of Suomi because of my origins being separated from my kin through adoption. Naturally, my Finnish “sisu” prevailed. I found my kin and my heritage, against improbable odds. This also became part my book I published in 2018 called: You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are. Not only did I find my U.S. kin, I connected in 2023 and 2024 with my wonderful and long-lost Finnish relatives in a nation that is suddenly popping up in health research, documentaries, wonky policy research, and on countless social media streams.
All told, I’ve written 15 articles and some long-form stories (one is 9,000 words!) about Finland and my ties to it since March 2023. I’ve had my writing published the Genealogical Society of Finland (a 4,000 word story is available to its members) and I’ve been interviewed on the Michigan Radio news magazine “Stateside,” to discuss my story connecting with my Finnish kin. I’ve put all of my writing and my in-depth Finnish photo essays on my page that I’ve branded: “Celebrating all things Finnish—Kaikkea suomalaista juhlitaan.” Let me know what you think. We can learn a lot from the Finnish people, especially how they care their people.
(Note: I’ll be updating this page later with more photo essays and an essay about what I learned taking saunas in Finland, including the “sauna capital of the world,” beautiful Tampere.)
Enjoy/ Nauttia!