When I was young, my father handed me a coin and told me to check out the year on it.  Most things have been made before I was born, I was only seven.  To my amazement the coin dated back to the 1880’s.  A world so vastly different then the one I am in today. My mind darting to how my great-great-grandfather lived working for the oil business.  Unfortunately he died working for the oil company.  There wasn’t too many stories about my great-great-grandfather passed on by his son since he was young when his father passed.  They found this coin in his pocket when he passed and it has been passed down from generation to generation ever since.  The wild west in America was a completely different world, we live in a world of electronics where people stare for hours at a lit rectangular box for hours not worrying about not having enough water or being attacked by animals.  This connection is through my fathers side.  His side started out in Wales.  Immigrated over to America on the East and had to fight for a job like everybody else who got off by boat.  Through struggling they made the frontier across to the West.  There are others who share my name that come to family outings.  We live in California, however some live scattered throughout America.  The ones we most commonly see are those in Arizona and Texas.  This coin, to me, is a representation of where I came from and not to forget those who are in other places that I call family.

– Nick Feenstra

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