This is a picture of my Grandmothers elephants. She was raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. When she was 5 yrs old her god mother gave her an elephant and told her to always have an elephant in her home because it will bring her money, as she was raised by a poor family. At the age of 16 she came to New York in a propeller plane with her 18 yr old sister where they had no money or no place to live of their own. She made sure she brought her elephant because she never forgot what her godmother told her. Once she came to NY she was able to get a job in a hotel and her sister at a tailor shop. They were able to make enough money to get an apartment, clothes, send money to their mother who still lived in Puerto Rico and was raising 5 more of their siblings. A few years later she met my grandfather who worked at a meat market. They got married, moved to New York City housing and had two kids my Dad and Uncle. She always tells us if it wasn't for her elephants she wouldn't have had any luck in finding a job to earn enough money to survive. She never wanted her kids to struggle the way she and her siblings did, she always prayed to be not wealthy but to have enough money to be able to provide for her family. Until this day my grandmother collects elephants.

– Jada

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant