My Great grandmother came over from Europe with her family poor. But when she grew up she finally brought something of her own to show off the success she had working. She brought a nice expensive( back in the day) pocket watch. But the watch eventually got broken and there isn’t much left of my great grandmother’s watch today. The glass covering and parts of the hands are missing. She wore it until one of her sons damaged it with a hammer when he was a toddler. It was a valuable part of her life, a symbol of her financial achievement and a leftover from her life before she met my  great grandfather. I can imagine her looking at it and reflecting on her young adult life. When she died, the watch became the property of her youngest daughter who is my grandmother, who looks to it as a visual reminder of her mother. There are an awful lot of memories in one broken watch, worth more than any antique appraiser could estimate and shows us even if we are broken we still could have memories.

– Jack Q

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