Peel-Blahds – The very Swedish name of my ancestors. The Pihlblads settled in Lindsborg Kansas and established themselves as a true founding family of that community. They were upstanding citizens, hard workers, an indentured servant, and a college president. Certainly, a very esteemed family. But the lessons I learned from the Pihlblads came from an eBay interaction. I sold an old lithograph print of a town of Lindsborg on eBay. It happened that the mayor of a nearby town bought the print and we started a conversation about the print, the town of Lindsborg, and ultimately my family heritage. The man was very nice, and we connected on Facebook. Since my Great Great Grandfather was a famous member of the community (remember the college president), my eBay friend would send me pictures of him with my other family members that existed in the community that I’ve never seen before. He even sent a picture of my family’s headstones in the Lindsborg Community Cemetery. This entire interaction taught me a few things about hard work, community, and the power of networking. Here we go.

1. Strong Foundations: The power of building a strong foundation in any part of your life is truly evident in this entire interaction. Our ancestors faced true hardships and had to work extremely hard for simple things we take for granted every day. They built solid relationships with others in their community, constantly improved themselves, and formed a solid family foundation which helped later generations. It also helped me connect with someone who had more information about my family.

2. Patience: Things take time. Today, if it takes time, it takes too long. We often find ourselves planting seeds today, only to dig them up tomorrow. I think back at what my Great Great Grandfather accomplished in his life with the tools he had. Writing letters, finding information, connecting with people all took a thousand times longer than they do today. However, instead of marveling at the miracle that technology is, we only complain when things take longer than we think they should. Today we work in seconds, and minutes. The Pihlblads worked in weeks, and months.

3. Community: They truly embodied the saying “live together or die alone.” The Pihlblads couldn’t survive on their own without their community to help and support them. People offered their talents and skills for free in exchange for something that they didn’t have or couldn’t make themselves. I believe that community is just as important today as it was back then. We all need to collectively bask in our victories and support one another during our losses. The past 18 months have shown us that community is more important than ever.

Thanks for reading everybody! www.brandeducationhub.com @mf.design.co @marioferarri1

3 Lessons Learned from the Pihlblåds