My grandfather was always my favorite family member. He came from the Dominican Republic to America in the 1980s. When he died in 2014 it really hurt me even though I was so young. People say kids aren’t sure how to regulate emotions when it comes to death but I completely knew what was happening. He and I had a very strong connection. I remember sitting on his big rocking chair with him at night watching El Chavo del Ocho, a Mexican comedy show. Again, he died when I was very young, the age of 5 actually but he really played a big role in who I am today. Anyways, he always had this cross made of glass in his room right where his bible was on his nightdrawer. It was one of the personal belongings that he cherished and chose to bring to America from the Dominican Republic. I was always drawn to it just because I thought it looked nice. It was different from other crosses I had seen when I was a kid. It wasn’t kind of big and it was see-through with these little gem studs in the middle of it. I’d never seen a see-through cross when I was little. Right after the death of my grandfather I remember my father picking me up to talk about it. When he was dropping me off back home he handed me the cross to keep. I was happy I could keep my grandfather with me in the cross but it made me really sad in a way. I’m not going to lie and say this experience taught me anything because it didn’t. It just showed me how much I really cared for him and how broken I was by his passing. Still to this day I am. Every time I look at that cross it reminds me of him. 

– Jayden Peña

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant