Watching family members admire and use the beautiful china set displayed at the table on holiday dinners, I always wondered where these beautiful pieces of delicate ceramic plates, forks, knives, bowls and a gravy boat had come from. It had never crossed my mind how much history these items have gone through, specifically the gravy boat. When my great grandmother was around the age of three in 1919, she had migrated from Russia to the United States. The china set and silverware that my great grandmother brought with her was from her parents and had been passed through many generations.  Yet every piece of the set remained in tact.  My great grandmother had passed it down to her son, who passed it down to my mother, and has been used at family dinners for a countless amount of years, and has survived generations of holiday dinners. The gravy boat in particular was used in all of our traditional holiday dinners and was always in the center of the table. The china set and gravy boat not only serve as a reminder of cherished family members of previous generations and my grandmother’s journey to the United States, but it also represents my family coming together for traditional Jewish holiday dinners. The gravy boat has witnessed countless joyous memories of many generations of my family from Russia to the United States. 

– Remi Beit

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