My grandmother’s name is Maria. She is one of the strongest women I know. When she was only 16 she immigrated with her 18 year old brother from Italy to America. This gold bracelet played a big part in her journey to becoming the woman she is today. She grew up with many siblings and her parents on a farm in an Italian region called Abruzzo. It is in a very remote area. When my grandmother was younger their family was poor and depended on their farm animals and crops for money. When their cow was stolen they didn’t have enough money to provide for the whole family and decided to send my grandma and her brother to America. Both of them only had an elementary school education and spoke little to no English. My grandmother had a lot of trouble adjusting at first, but eventually she and her brother became accustomed to living in America and they began to enjoy it. So when a man she loved asked her to move back to Italy to be with him she was not happy. When she was in Italy, my grandmother fell in love with this man and she arranged to marry him. He gave her the gold bracelet, which much later in life she gave to my mother. Eventually my grandmother decided she would stay in America, which led her to meeting my grandfather who is also an Italian immigrant. This bracelet represents new beginnings for my grandmother and how she became independent enough to make her own decisions. 

– Esme Fromhart

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