In 1980, my mom and her family immigrated from Kerala, India, to Texas. She was around eight years old at the time when her family made the journey to the U.S. in search of a better future. They couldn’t bring much with them. However, there were a few things they couldn’t leave behind–tangible items that were precious reminders of the life they were leaving. Among these were sarees. Now, decades later, those same sarees–many of them passed down from both her own ancestors and my dad’s–live in a dedicated dresser in my parents’ room. This dresser is a sacred space filled with so much value and history. My mom opens it every week when she’s picking out a saree to wear to church. Her eyes light up every time she makes the choice of which saree to wear that week. Each saree comes with its own story–where it came from, who gave it to her, what memory it holds. She makes it a priority to share these stories with us in hopes that we will be able to pass them down to our own children. It’s in these moments I see how deeply grateful she is–not just for the sarees themselves, but for the life they represent. A life where she can wear pieces of her past with pride in a country that she has spent the majority of her life in. As my sister and I have grown older, we’ve begun to understand their meaning. We’ve had the privilege of wearing these heirlooms for special occasions. We wear them with pride and love–for our mom, for our culture, and for the journey that has brought our family here.

– IJ

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