I was looking at the two empty seats next to me thinking ‘I might just catch up on some sleep on this flight.’

How wrong was I.

Just a minute or two away from departure, two people marched down the aisle towards the vacant seats.

I looked up to say ‘hello’, and to my surprise it turned out to be a someone I already knew!

Felicity and I had met before, I purchased wine from her for a restaurant I formerly managed.

Tony and Felicity Ruse where on there way to the South Australian Vineyards for a gastronomic journey that sounded fantastic.

Not to boast, or feel any jealousy-I was on my way to the Barossa for the annual Torbreck Dinner. Food by Tetsuya Wakuda and wine by David Powell, I was happy.

My recent job change had thrown me into the world of wine sales and therefore provided three hours of serious conversation. Those who know me know I am always up for a chat.

The people around us, like me that thought they would get some sleep, would not be happy.

Felicity has asked me to write a few words about something we spoke about on our flight, my family name ‘Aggebrink’. Unless your are Swedish you would probably have never of heard it.

I will try to keep this story as brief as possible.

I guess it begins with Gunnar Aggebrink, my Swedish grandfather.

At a young age Gunner Anderson knew he would one day be a successful business man. First thing he had to do was change his name. ‘Anderson’ in Sweden is like ‘Smith’ or ‘Jones’ is in the Anglo world. This prompted my grandfather to change his name to something that was a bit different and that people would remember. ‘Aggebrink’ was what he came up with.

My grandfather went into the plastic industry. His breakthrough came in the form of a recipe for plastic that you could seal and then inflate. The first products were coat hangers, the kind that left no crease marks on the shoulder. The possibilities for inflatable products seemed endless. Forms included beach balls, furniture and eventually ended up in pools around the world. For anyone who’s had a drink in the pool whilst lying in a ‘Li-lo’, you have my grandfather to thank.

The ‘Haga-Plast’ business in Sweden in the 1940’s and 1950’s grew enough attention for my grandfather to make friends with people all over the world, Walt Disney was one of these people. He met the King of Sweden and was awarded ‘An Order’ similar to being knighted. He met alot of people around the Formula One circuits and decided that Sweden needed a Formula One Champion. Along with a number of other Swedish businessmen, my grandfather sponsored a Go Kart driver. He trained up, rose through the ranks and finally earnt Sweden a title, providing the country to host there own event. There is still in use today the Anderstorp Racing Circuit, built behind Gunnar Aggebrink’s home town.

Another person he met was a German businessman who invited Gunnar to a island paradise he had found in Spain. With Franco still in dictatorship at this time, Mallorca had only one hotel available for a tourists. A contrast to the 40-50 million tourists that flock there every summer now.

Gunnar spent one of his afternoons in Mallorca at a farm on the north side of the Island. As he wandered around the small village, he felt as if he too had found his special place. Later that day as a farmer and my grandfather drank brandy, they watched the sun set over the rustic peninsular that juts out of the steep cliffed coastline. The sun was swallowed up by the Mediterranean and another day was over.

A number of years later, my mother and her father were walking down a dusty road in the same Spanish village, my grandfather had decided to take the family to Mallorca on a vacation. My mum was 16 years old at the time. They came to a corner on the road and Gunnar turned to his daughter and said ’shall we go in here and look at the house they are building?’, my mother not being mischievous in any way took some convincing to enter. As they walked out onto the balcony under construction they looked out to the most incredible view - sea, olive groves, horizon, coast, pinetree’s, it had everthing! ‘What do you think?’ my grandfather asked. ‘I feel like I am at home’ was my mothers reply. ‘Thats good, you are’ said Gunnar.

In the mid-50’s ‘Cana Marita’ was built. My grandfathers legacy,pride and joy. A house for his family to enjoy for many ,many years to come in a place he called his favourite place in the world. He was not alone with this thought, Robert Graves, the poet, lived and died in Deia’. Many other artists love the area, even today Micheal Douglas and Andrew Lloyd-Webber are residents. Along with my family, those who have been to this part of the world hold it close to their hearts.

I have been fortunate to stay at the Cana Marita house numerous times throughout the years, some of these visits before my developed memory. It was during my long stays there in 1995 and 1996 that I realised how important family is. Staying in the house for the summers meant time spent with Cousin’s, Aunties and Uncles, Brothers and Sisters, Nephews and Nieces, the whole family.

On a sad note Gunnar died at a young age (due to complications from his time in the plastic laboratory), 6 months or so before I was born.

Gunnar Aggebrink always wanted a son, someone to carry on the family name he had created. Unfortunately, his three daughters, Gun my mother, Lena and Marita, had all changed their names through marriage and the name ‘Aggebrink’ was no longer in use. After spending time in the house in Spain and a trip to Anderstorp in Sweden, I knew what I had to do on my return to Australia.

Sometime late in 1996, I changed my surname by de-pol from ‘Jones’ to ‘Aggebrink-Jones’, bringing the name back to life. Since then my cousins in Sweden have also changed their surnames to ‘Aggebrink’, my brother has now changed his name also.

The ‘Aggebrink’ name has been reborn and to this day there are now 12 of us, with a few more name changes pending.

On November 23, 2007 my wife Leah gave birth to our first child. With much consideration towards her great-grandfather, Leah and I named our daughter ‘Deia’ Aggebrink-Jones’.

Andrew Aggebrink-Jones