Late in the evening, at my grandparents house in Germany, my family and i would sit around the table playing quartets.Usually Quartets has multiple standard categories. In our version each category is a prominent writer, a movie or genre my family likes. These include Edgar Allen Poe, Gothic, Vampire and more. Then each card would feature an image, for example a scene from an old vampire movie. The twist here however is that, one or more of the faces in the pictures or scenes are replaced by one of my relatives or myself. Playing this game brings me happy memories.I am from the US and so is my dad. My mother is German. Having my german relatives enjoy American literature and cinema and put that passion for it into a funny game we can play ,means the world to me. It creates a connection between my german life and my american life. It makes me being in America, my birthplace, away from where i have spent almost my whole life, easier. Just because i’m in one of the two countries does not mean i am separated from my life in the other, there will always be strings in between them, even if they are un noticeable to someone who isn’t in my family. This game symbolises to me that the place where i come from America will always be a part of my heart no matter how far away i am from it.  

– MR

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant