I found this gold ring in my mother's closet, tucked in a small box of other jewelry pieces I had never seen her wear. Sliding it onto my finger, I was reminded of my grandmother. Ever since I can remember, my dadiji has told me to invest in real gold.

Though I found the ring in my mother's closet, it immediately reminded me of my dad's mom and her Punjabi culture. While gold is valued everywhere, it feels especially eternal in Indian culture. My dadiji's dresser displays flashy gold jewelry, characterized by their weight, size, and colorful assortment and shapes of gemstones. 

On the contrary, my mother enjoys jewelry that is simple In design, always wearing the same diamond earrings and necklace. Partly, her affinity for the simplicity is due to her upbringing. My mother is the daughter of Ecuadorian Immigrants who (despite the fact that I am not a practicing Christian) gift me charm bracelets of Jesus on almost every holiday.  While my dad was raised in a suburb upstate, my mom grew up in Queens. They met working at a hospital in Albany and eventually left their native turf of New York to raise three kids in Baltimore. Somewhere along this timeline, my dadiji gifted my mother this gold ring. 

The culmination of all these stories and migrations reflect me, a third-generation bi-racial American. The simplicity of the ring feels like my mother and its gold shimmer feels like my grandmother. The ring is like me. It is neither of these heritages but it reflects both. I like to pair it with my other rings as I walk around New York, a forever place in my family's migration story.

– Tahra Khanuja

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