Swedish Dagny Carlsson enrolled in a computer course at the age of 99, after which she started a blog entitled ‘Blog with me’. She wrote about everything that was on her mind, such as walking in Stockholm, the sunflowers that had come up beautifully or how Easter was celebrated in her youth. Short pieces with the occasional fine dose of self-mockery or a life lesson. “They say I have a sense of humor. Humor can mean that things don’t have to be taken too seriously and this can sometimes come in handy when things get complicated.’
On Friday it was announced that she passed away, at the age of 109, she was called the oldest blogger in the world. In recent years she has reached an audience of millions with her pieces. On Monday, the visitor counter on her blog was more than 5.5 million. It made her a welcome guest in Sweden, but also abroad.
Her computer
Carlsson was born in 1912. After only eight school years, she had to work at a clothing factory, where she would work for twenty years. She had an unhappy first marriage, which ended in divorce. At 39 she met her second husband, ‘who could dance like a god’.
For the last fifteen years until her retirement she worked for the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Her husband died of colon cancer in the 1980s. Since then, Carlsson has been committed to cancer research. When she moved into a nursing home at the age of 108 last year, she donated her belongings, including a large number of paintings, to a cancer research foundation.
In 1999, relatives gave her a computer. She went on a course and got pleasure from using the device. ‘I can keep in touch with my friends without having to pay for a stamp. I can follow the news. It’s great,” she told in 2018 Deutsche Welle†
At the blog, she was helped by the woman who had given the computer course. Elena Ström would remain involved in the blog all this time, for example by posting the photos with the posts. Carlsson wrote the lyrics himself. She had always wanted to be a writer, but it never happened. “There were so many good books there was no point producing a bad one,” she said—with her signature self-mockery.
The bar was set lower for blogging. “When I blog I don’t have to worry about the subject, I just write what I want.” She told Al Jazeerah, who visited her small apartment in Stockholm in 2018, “I saw it as a second chance. I wanted to be something different than I had become.’ The blog, which she called ‘my only child’, became proof to her that you are never too old to start something new.
cool aunt
Carlsson, who occasionally took a picture in sunglasses that would have fit pop star George Michael, described herself as “a tough aunt” who loved many different things, from opera to good conversation. “But I like laughing the most.”
In her pieces she liked to wrap up wisdom she had learned during her life. She called it ‘looking a little closer from above’. For example: “Think about how much fun you can have if you can laugh at your weaknesses. It doesn’t have to be a drama if you spill milk all over your clothes. It looks funny and you can just buy a new suit.’
She had a pleasant and infectious optimism. “Nothing used to be better,” she often wrote. ‘There used to be such a difference between people, especially women had a disadvantaged position. So many were miserable, now there’s a lot more help if you need it.’
That didn’t mean she wasn’t critical. She believed that society should be more considerate of the elderly. Buying a train ticket online, for example, was not easy. She also criticized supermarkets that only sold family meals. They had to take into account ‘singles, as single people are called today’. She received an award in Sweden for becoming a role model for the elderly. She preferred to look down herself. “Agees aren’t usually that nice anymore,” she said.
Corona-dullness
Corona was a difficult time for Carlsson, who loved visitors and liveliness but noticed little of this in the nursing home. “Loneliness is terribly boring, I’d rather have a little fun while I’m alive,” she wrote. Now that the coronavirus has calmed down a bit, I hope my friends will visit again. It’s very sad just to lie and look at the ceiling.’
Her last blog was dated January 28, where she reported on a hospital visit. “My friend Ingela says I have at least nine lives, just like the cat, but I’m not quite sure what I need it for.”
She was looking forward to celebrating her 110th birthday in May, if it could be called “a little party.” It didn’t come to that. Friend and blogging helper Elena announced the death on the blog. The word ‘death’ was not in your vocabulary. You demanded life!” she wrote. Below that, the reactions poured in. One of them reads: ‘Thank you for everything! I hope I have the same zest for life and humor as I am 100 years old myself.’
Three times Carlsson
Film role
In 2013, Carlsson had a small role in †The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’, the film adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s bestseller. She plays a woman who takes over the abandoned apartment of the protagonist.
Book
In 2016, Carlsson also published a book about her life entitled “In the Head of a 104-Year-Old.” The book sold 100,000 copies in Sweden.
#MeToo
Carlsson expressed her support for the MeToo movement in 2017. During her first marriage, she was abused by her husband, who once locked her in a closet to prevent her from meeting friends. According to Carlsson, men have become bolder over time. “Light them up and teach them manners. That’s where it should start,” she said.