The maternal side of my family originates in the Amazon Jungle region of Peru. My mother immigrated from Peru to the United States in 1998. The veil pictured was handmade by my mother’s grandmother, my great-grandmother, to be worn inside of churches as a sign of reverence. My mother keeps this veil as a reminder of her upbringing and her greatest values. Her faith was important to her in her move to the United States and she found great solace in her church family. The same values of faith that the veil represented in Peru hold true here in the United States and are imparted to all members of my family. I grew up in the church, in particular a church of Spanish-speaking members with similar immigration stories to that of my mother. In fact, the same church in Queens we attend today is where my mother met and fell in love with my father. He himself is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic and shares the same religious values represented by the veil. This veil is much more than an incredible artisanal handiwork from the Amazon, it is the representation of the family, love, and culture that we find at our church. At the same time it shows the distinction in culture between life in Peru and here in the U.S. My mother pursued higher education upon arriving in New York and is now a public school teacher in Brooklyn. She leads a life so far from the world she grew up in, yet symbols like this veil are proof to her and myself of the retention of beliefs that carry through generations.

– EG

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant