This photo is of my great-grandparents sometime after they moved to America from Hong Kong in 1961. They had come to America in search of opportunity, though what they sought most was peace. An event mythologized in my family and merely dubbed "The War" had claimed the lives of my great-grandparents' families, and times in China were only getting harder. They had met and had my grandfather only a couple of years before they had to flee the country. War had pushed them out, and cultural change and destruction were on the horizon. They came to America with next to nothing and built lives and restaurants. There is no familial archive of relics or photos from before they came to America. Mirroring the cultural destruction that came with war and revolutions back in China, my family had immensely disconnected from our heritage. We try to hold onto what we can: photos like this one, traditions of Dim Sum, and what other shreds of tradition we cling to. Though even in times underlined by the decay of culture through war and trauma, we still hold onto family and the traditions we've been able to make out from the dreams of our ancestors. 

– DT

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