The Swedish people got to know Irma Lehtosalo in the television series “Marko & Irma”, and she quickly became a favorite among viewers. In the series, we follow Irma and her son Marko “Markoolio” Lehtosalo and we have heard them tell about the hardships they went through, how Marko and his siblings’ upbringing was marred by Irma’s alcohol abuse.
In “Renée’s bridge”, Irma now talks about her own upbringing, that it is similar to the one her children later had.
– It was a pretty tough life. There were problems with mother, father and alcohol. It was really hard. My sister is ten years older and mom and dad drank a lot, and when they started arguing, I ran to her and slept there all weekend, says Irma.
Then the daughter saved Irma’s life
When Irma was 19, she became pregnant with her first child, Marko. When she told her parents, they told her to move out. She found a place of 20 square meters where she lived for eight months with Marko before they moved from Finland to Sweden.
In addition to Marko, Irma is the mother of two more. In Renée’s dock, she recalls what they had to go through as children, like the time when Irma was close to being strangled to death – before her daughter saved her life.
– They saw terrible things, I was beaten three times. Once my daughter woke up, otherwise I would have been dead. She saved my life. She remembers it, even though she was four or five years old at the time, says Irma.
– When my daughter woke up and started crying, he let go. It was terrible that my daughter saw it and that she remembers it today, she continues.
Has not forgiven himself
In 2010, Irma moved out to a house on Ingarö and that’s when she decided to stop drinking alcohol.
– When I finished I thought “God, what have I done to my children?”. That thing is hard, that I have done the same crap to them that my mother and father did to me.
What helped her how the addiction was the children and grandchildren, we have heard Irma say several times that her grandchildren should never see her drunk. But despite years of sobriety, she still feels guilty.
– Deep down, I don’t feel very well. I am now trying to be a good mother and show that I regret what I did very much. But deep down I think they remember so many mean things. I still have a bad conscience, says Irma.
She states that she has not forgiven herself yet, but is extremely moved when Renée Nyberg says that she knows that Marko has forgiven Irma – because he has told her so.
Stream Renée’s bridge
Renée Nyberg invites interesting Swedes whom she is curious to get to know more to an island in the Stockholm archipelago.