Celebrating a specific culture was never something we did in my family, aside from a vase that sits in our cabinet for us to treasure. The vase has been part of our family for over a century. Although unaware of its origin, it retains its substantial generational value as its ownership dates back to my great-great-great grandparents. My great-great-great-grandparents migrated from Denmark to the U.S. with only the vase in hand on a ship. To much of my disappointment, I was never told why they brought the vase. The vase is oval-ish shaped with two small handles on each side. It’s partially gray with a blue floral design on the front and an aged texture. Being as fragile as it is, I am surprised as to how it didn’t break at any point, especially on the ship. As far as what they did when they got to America, I'm unsure. The vase itself represents where my family originally came from. What stands out to me is that they got here by ship. They migrated from one place to another. I’ve never heard somebody talk about their family going from one place to another from a ship. That and only with a vase with origins I don’t know of. Everybody who has a story seems to know almost everything about what their family did to get here. With that in mind, the fact that they only had the vase with them says a lot about how they struggled. While I’m not sure about its origin, there’s history within my house. There’s a story behind everything, even when they’re concealed.

– Owen S.

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