My great-aunt and great-grandmother worked at the Nut Tree (located in Vacaville, California) baking cookies for the customers and for display. The bakery shut down in 1996, but the Nut Tree itself is still there. A photo of my great-aunt Jody selling cookies is placed on both the carousel and on the wall near the outlets. There was a display around 6 years ago where foam replicas of the cookies were placed up on display as well as photos from when the bakery was still standing. My dad took our family (my mother, brother, and I) to visit and it was a very meaningful experience and I learned a lot of interesting facts about my great-grandmother and aunt. Our family has always loved baking and decorating cookies and we incorporate this into our Christmas traditions and decorate cookies together as a family every year. Especially when people have passed away, such as my great-aunt Jody, memories like these mean a lot. Every year, when we decorate sugar cookies together as a family, I remember when my great-aunt and her children (my second-cousins) would come as well. My cousin Tim lives in Northern California, but when the twins, Becca and Alyssa, have time, they come as well. It means a lot in my family that we find time for this tradition each year. It’s cool to think that since my grandfather was my age, we kept this specific tradition “alive.”

– Madison

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more