This blue cat is a stuffed animal that my mom received as a child in Italy before she immigrated to America. To this day, this is the only thing my mother owns from her childhood and when she immigrated to this country. This artifact has sentimental meaning to both my family and I because it reminds us to be proud of our culture and heritage on a daily basis. This message is particularly vital to me because ever since the beginning of middle school, I have been harassed about being Italian. I used to take pride in my culture and within a few months of my 6th grade year, I told my family to no longer call or consider me Italian. I was ashamed of who I was and the worst part about it was that my heritage wasn’t something I could change. It took a year before I spoke up about the situation and began to truly accept my culture. This blue cat gave me and my family courage and pride to be who we are and thankful for what we have. If my mother never came to this country with her parents and worked hard to get where she is today, then I wouldn’t have the life that I do today and people would never here this story about my mother’s blue cat. 

– DK

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant