My late great aunt Wanda was Polish and her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Poland in the early 1900s. My great aunt, her brother, and their parents would visit family in Poland often, mostly to see family. That’s where this ceramic turkey is from. My great aunt got it on one of her trips to Poland and kept it on her nightstand as decoration. Whenever anyone asked her why the turkey was so important to her, she never went into detail as to why this item in particular was special compared to anything else she got from Poland. She just said that it reminded her of her favorite place on Earth. It connects to my identity because it’s from Poland which is a big part of my ethnicity. My great aunt passed away a couple of years ago and it was hard because she meant so much to my whole family and this turkey is something that she was special to her, so it’s even more special to me.

– Emily Bernal

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