A long time ago, my mother started dating an artist. While they were dating he gave her quite a few pieces he made, which are still hanging in our house. They started dating in Houston in 1993, and broke up in 1999, a couple years after moving to New York together. I was born in 2007.

My mother’s ancestors are Ashkenazi Jewish and arrived in Cleveland when they came over; my father’s are Western-European, and were living in upstate New York at the time. My mother saves a lot of stuff, and so does my father, even with his different cultural background. I imagine this saving some art pieces for so long as representing part of my mother and father’s culture, a conservative un-consumerism, and is connected to their New Yorker culture. Many New Yorkers even complain about when New York changed—became more materialistic in the 90’s and 2000’s

My mom saves mostly consumer objects, with the exception of art (which is not a consumer object), but otherwise has few heirlooms, being Jewish. But she has kept plant pots and rugs for inordinately long amounts of time. I imagine that saving art and saving consumer objects are connected.

All of the art pieces are similar in style, generally abstract, and diverse in that way. I have never questioned the presence of these pieces, and think of them as even a part of our family. If you look closely, the style of our furnisher seems to even be similar to the style of the pieces.

– AP-C

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