The jade necklace my father wears that will be passed down to me is of great significance to my family and my culture. If I am not mistaken, it was also passed down from his father, my grandfather. Traditionally, the jade stone is a symbol of qualities like purity, goodness, or beauty. It acts as a good luck or protection charm for the wearer as well. The jade charm is unique to my family by its design of a dragon. My family is from mainland China, with my father being the first to immigrate to the New England region of the United States in 2004, right after I was born. I lived in China for six years and emigrated from China in 2009, with my mother and joined my father. Shortly after, in 2011, my brother was born in the United States. Another few years later, my grandmother immigrated to the States. My family’s story is similar to one of my friends' family stories; he had grown up in China just like me and immigrated to the United States about three months before I did. We are both from the same region of China (the province of Fujian, located on the southeast coast of mainland China). 

– JZ

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child