“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