“Off the boat Irish.”  

I had the opportunity to be alive for seven years of my Grandfather's life on my dads side. Since that time I have heard so many stories of the man that he was and how he was a force to be reckoned with. I always saw him as this alligator (Lacoste) polo shirt wearing, really joyful short Irish man with a great brogue. One thing that I did know about him was that everyone called him “Off the Boat Irish”. Which in reality he was, he immigrated to the United States from Ireland in the late 1940’s on a ship to Brooklyn. When I visited my Grandparents house there was a model ship that was displayed on top of the book cabinet that I always loved to look at and admire. It was this ship that in my mind after his passing I created a story of that being the ship he traveled on to America.  After the passing of my grandmother we were cleaning the house. I was asked to go in and help and if I wanted anything that was left to keep it.  All I wanted was the ship.  After I was given it, I found out its true value because so many of my family members asked about it.  It was a really important item because it was one of the first decorations my grandfather had ever bought for his home in America. No one had remembered it until I made a point of having it. The significance was the idea of his travelling and starting in a new place and this decorative item was the symbol of that.   

– JC

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant