( CNN ) -- Michael Boatwright got off the flight from Los Angeles to Sweden and tightly embraced an unfamiliar woman as if they were old friends . They were . The two had dated briefly in the 1980s . But Boatwright does n't remember any of that . The 61-year-old Florida-born U.S. Navy vet woke up in a California hospital earlier this year speaking only Swedish . He had lived in Sweden off and on for about 20 years . Now , here he was at Goteborg Landvetter Airport , where that old friend , Ewa Espling , plans to help him get himself together in her country . `` I just want to be able to live a normal life and hopefully get my memory back , '' Boatwright said Tuesday . Boatwright has been diagnosed with dissociative amnesia , a rare psychiatric condition typically associated with a traumatic event . He says he has no memory of his past . Police found him unconscious in a Southern California Motel 6 in February . Navy vet wakes up , speaks only Swedish . Tuesday , Boatwright recalled that , waking up in the hospital this year , he looked at himself in the mirror and started crying . He did n't recognize the face looking back . When doctors tried to talk to him , he thought that his name was Johan Ek and that he was from Sweden . He did n't know why he had five tennis rackets in his hotel room . He was treated at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs . The hospital discharged him to Roy 's Desert Resource Center , where he has spent the past two weeks . The Riverside County Department of Mental Health bought him a one-way ticket to Gothenburg after Boatwright made it clear that he wants to live in Sweden . Boatwright said Tuesday that he is grateful for all of the help he has received . In the United States , Boatwright said , he felt like a stranger in his own country because he did n't speak the language : English . In Sweden , he feels safe and more calm and believes he 'll be able to start rebuilding his life . `` I think it 's the best solution for Michael , because he ca n't speak English , '' Espling said . `` To recover fully , I think he needs to come where he 's safe and understands what 's happening around him . '' Before Tuesday , Espling and Boatwright had n't seen each other since 1984 . Espling has arranged for a place for Boatwright to live in Sweden . She said she will try to assist as much as she can while he works through rebuilding his life . `` He 's going to have a home as long as he needs it , '' she said . She identified Boatwright in a Swedish newspaper article this year . `` Michael asked me , 'Why are you doing this for me ? ' Because I know Michael would have done the same thing for me . If he had found me in the papers . This is a very nice man with a very big heart , '' Espling said . In an exclusive CNN interview this month , Boatwright said he suffers from recurring nightmares too disturbing to describe . Boatwright said he is pleased to be in Sweden and wants to start working once he gets his memory back . He hopes to become a tennis instructor because , in his view , it 's the one thing he 's good at . Boatwright compared his life to an empty chalkboard . `` After death , this is probably the worst thing you could ever go through , '' he said . Small pieces are starting to come back , however . Recently , a Swedish song called `` Sol , vind och vatten '' ( `` Sun , Wind and Water '' ) popped into his head as if it were on repeat all day long . He had no idea where it came from . He does n't recall any experiences that he and Espling shared in the 1980s , but some emotional remnants of the past remain . Asked how he feels about Espling , he said , `` I feel warm on the inside . '' Car crash leaves Australian woman with French accent . CNN 's Elizabeth Cohen contributed to this report .
Michael Boatwright has dissociative amnesia . The first time I saw him was in a hospital room at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he had been admitted after being found unconscious on his kitchen floor. His ex-girlfriend is helping him get his life together in Sweden .